


Bittersweet

by jigoku-nozomi (NZM11497)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Cheating, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Possessive Boyfriend, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, flashbacks/dreams, past relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-19 13:39:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10640952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NZM11497/pseuds/jigoku-nozomi
Summary: Yuuji Kimura had invited a couple of his friends over to help celebrate the 3 year anniversary of his relationship with his boyfriend, Ken.





	1. Chapter 1

Sounds of silverware clinking, the friendly buzz of the people gathered at the table, and an amicable atmosphere fills the dining room of Yuuji Kimura’s apartment. It was the 3 year anniversary of his relationship with his boyfriend, Ken Minami. Yuuji invited his best friend, Mai Nakano, over to help celebrate the occasion.

“Hey, what’s a girl got to do to get another glass of wine over here?”, Mai said, a bit tipsy.

“You’ve only had 2 glasses and you’re already like this. What am I going to do with you?”, Yuuji said with a chuckle. “Didn’t you invite someone else over? When are they getting here?”

“He said he was on his way…like 20 minutes ago. Where is he?!”, she yelled.

“Calm down, I’m sure he’s on his way.”, Ken said, trying to quiet her down. “I’ll be right back. I’m sure the cake is almost done.”, he gives Yuuji a kiss on the cheek and heads to the kitchen.

“Keep that man, Yuuji.”, Mai said as she moved her seat closer to him.

“You’re being ridiculous.”, Yuuji couldn’t help but to laugh at his friend’s silliness.

“Hey, I’m testing him. If he can’t handle this side of me, then he’s a weakling who must be weeded out like the rest.”

“Dear God, what _am_ I going to do with you?”, the two giggle and then hug. Then, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.”

Yuuji gets up and goes to answer the door. Once he opens the door, another man was on the other side. Suddenly, Mai lets out a scream, runs up to the new guest, and leaps into his arms, smothering him with kisses.

“Alright, who let her have alcohol?”, the man asked jokingly.

“Sorry, Ryu. She was too powerful for me to stop. Come on in.”, Yuuji lets him in and the three head back to the table.

“What the fuck took you so long to get here?!”, Mai yelled.

“Calm down, woman! I’m here now, aren’t I?”, Ryu silenced his girlfriend with a kiss and took a seat at the table. “I had to make a stop somewhere else before I got here. Sorry it took me so long.”

“No, it’s fine. She was more worried about you than anyone else here.”, Yuuji said with a chuckle.

“I wasn’t worried; I was getting pissed off that he wasn’t here when he said he was going to be here.”, Mai said in a childish voice.

“Well, I’m here now. So, shut up.”, Ryu kisses his girlfriend again and starts making himself a plate of food.

Ken comes back with the cake and sets it on the table. “I see we have another guest. I’m Ken.”, he shakes Ryu’s hand.

“Ryu. It’s about time I put a face with the name. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. Mai’s told me so much about you.”

“Oh, really?”, he looks at his girlfriend with a bit of cynicism.

“It wasn’t anything _bad_.”, she assured him.

“She just mainly told him that you’re the only one who can deal with her psycho ass.”, Yuuji interjected.

“Yeah! See? Yuuji gets it.”, she raises her half-empty glass to him and he returns the gesture.

“You’re lucky I’m the only guy who can tolerate your levels of crazy, you psycho bitch.”, he gives her a kiss on her forehead.

“Love you too, baby.”, she says in a childish manner once more as she finishes her third glass of wine.

“So, congratulations on your anniversary, guys. While I was on my way over here, I got you guys a little something.”, Ryu gave them the bag that he had brought in.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, Ryu. But, thanks! I appreciate it.”, Yuuji said, happily taking the bag.

“No, no. It’s fine, I’m sure you’ll love it.”, Ryu said, trying to hide his giggles.

“What’s so funny?”, Yuuji asked, now becoming nervous about opening the bag.

“What did you get them?”, Mai asked, giving him a smack on the arm.

“You’ll see. Go on, open it.”

Yuuji takes a moment to think about it and then eventually he goes through the contents of the bag.

“Oh my, God! What the fuck is all of this stuff?!”, Yuuji couldn’t contain his laughter as he was pulling out an assortment of sex toys from the bag.

“Woah, some present, huh?”, Ken joined in on the laughter.

“What the fuck, Ryu?!”, Mai hit him on the head, but eventually gave into the amusement of the situation.

“I just thought you guys would make good use of this stuff. You know, got to keep things fresh in between the sheets.”

“Well, we appreciate it. Thank you, Ryu.”, Yuuji said.

“No problem. And hey, I wasn’t the only one who pitched in. I had a couple of friends from the restaurant contribute something too. Their names are on the card inside.”

Yuuji pulls out the card and takes a look at it. There was a message on the card that read:

_“Happy Anniversary! Here’s to many more years of being together! Best of luck to you both!”_

There were a few names with individual messages next to them, but one of them stood out to Yuuji the most.

_“Yuuji, congratulations on your anniversary. I hope you’re doing well. Miss you so much… Congrats again. –Aki.”_

The message itself wasn’t anything special, but it was still enough to make Yuuji a bit uncomfortable.

“Hey, you alright?”, Ken asked, noticing Yuuji’s demeanor.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks again, Ryu.”, Yuuji quietly said.

“No problem. I’m glad I could make you laugh.”

“Yeah…”, Yuuji quietly said.

Then Mai, noticing Yuuji’s unusual behavior said, “Hey, Yuuji, can you help me get some plates from the kitchen? I think it’s about time to have some cake, don’t you?”

“Uhh…sure.”, the two got up and headed to the kitchen.

Once they got there, Mai immediately said, “Alright, I may be a bit buzzed, but I know there’s something wrong, and you can’t tell me there isn’t. So, spill it.”

“It’s nothing you need to be worried about. I’m already over it.”, he said as he got some plates from the cabinet.

“Yuuji, you were laughing and joking around one minute and the next, you looked like you had seen a ghost. What’s the matter?”

Yuuji stood there for a moment, staring at the plates. Finally, he came out with it and said, “ _His_ name was on the card.”

“Whose name?”

“Akihisa…”, Yuuji said in a quiet, bitter tone.

“You’re kidding me.”, Mai rubbed his back, trying to console him.

“I wish I was. I didn’t even know he and Ryu knew each other.”

“Neither did I. What did he write on the card?”

“Why does it matter what he wrote? I just don’t want to think about this anymore.”, he wiped away the tears that were falling down his cheeks and took the plates to the dining room.

After everyone had their slice of cake and spent some more time conversing with one another, Ryu and Mai were making their leave.

“Well, thanks for having us over, guys.”, Ryu said.

“Thanks for coming. It was nice meeting you both.”, Ken said, opening the door for them.

“Nice meeting you, too. Hopefully, we can do this again sometime.”

Mai suddenly went up to Yuuji and gave him a hug, “Congratulations again!”

“Thanks, Mai. Let me know when you get home, okay?”

“Will do. See you guys around.”

Mai and Ryu make their leave and Yuuji and Ken were left alone.

“So, how about we go and try out our _‘gifts’_?”, Ken said, pulling Yuuji in by his waist.

“Not tonight, babe. I need to clean up.”, Yuuji pulled himself away and went to the table to clean up after his guests.

“Do you want me to help?”

“No, thank you. After I finish up here, I’m just going to go to bed. I need to get up early tomorrow anyway.”

Ken was still a bit worried about Yuuji. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with you? You don’t want to talk about anything?”

“No, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”, he gives Ken a little kiss on the cheek and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

“Alright, if you say so. Well, if you’re going to go to bed soon, then I’m just going to go home.”

“Alright, call me when you get there.”

“I will. I’ll see you later.”, he kisses Yuuji goodbye and makes his way out the door. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Ken leaves and Yuuji continues washing the dishes and cleans up the rest of the dining room. Once he was finished, he took the bag containing his gifts and the card to his room. He sat there looking at the specific message on the card from that one particular person.

_“You miss me, huh? Too little, too late, asshole.”_

He ripped up the card out of frustration, threw out the torn pieces, changed into his pajamas, and went to bed. He didn’t want to think about that particular person anymore. He had a good day, and he wasn’t going to let something so seemingly trivial ruin it. He turns off his bedroom light, and goes to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji and Mai go to work, and has a discussion during their lunch break.

It was the next morning and Yuuji was on his way to work at a clothing store downtown called Strut. He picked up Mai on the way to work; they usually carpool together.

“So, did you get to use your new toys last night?”, Mai asked slyly.

“Unfortunately, no. I spent most of the night cleaning up after you all, so he just went home.”

“Aww, that sucks.”, Mai jokingly said. “But, how do you feel other than that?”

“I feel fine. I’m not even going to think about him, so let’s just stop while we’re ahead, okay?”

“Good idea. It’s not good to focus on the past. It distracts from the now.”, she said in a fake, snooty tone.

“Yeah, exactly.”, Yuuji just giggled at his friend’s silliness.

“But, I do want to tell you something.”

“What’s up?”

“I did ask Ryu how he knew he-who-shall-not-be-named, and apparently he started working at the restaurant about a month ago.”

“Really? Good for him.”, he couldn’t have sound any more uninterested.

“Look, I know it’s nothing special, but since we have this information, I figured we could come up with a game plan since we go over there often.”

“What do you mean ‘game plan’?”, Yuuji asked, confused.

“Well, Ryu said that _he_ only works on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. But, he only works part-time on Fridays and Saturdays, so there’s still a chance we can still eat there on those days. We just have to be mindful of the hours he’s working. I can ask Ryu—”

“I think you’re looking into this way too much.”, Yuuji interjected. “We’re not preparing for war, Mai.”

“Yeah, I know. But—”

“Look, I understand that you’re trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it. But, there’s really no need for this. It’s not like high school; I don’t have to run and hide from him anymore.”

Mai just gave him a look of concern, but reluctantly gave in and sighed, “Fine. If you say so. But, if he even _thinks_ about messing with you—”

“You don’t have to worry about anything. I’m going to be fine.”

They finally arrive to the store and immediately get to work. Yuuji was one of the cashiers while Mai worked the floor. It was a pretty busy day, and after a few hours, it was their lunch break. Mai came up to the front counter where Yuuji was.

“Okay, so today’s Thursday, so we could head over to Choza’s, or did you want something else?”

“Well, I told Ken that I’d take him there later on tonight, so we should go somewhere else.”

“Ooh, taking him out on a date? That should be fun.”

“Yeah, it’s his first time going, so hopefully he’ll have a fun time.”

“It’ll be fun when you guys get home.”, Mai said with a wink.

“Oh, shut up. Do you want to get some burgers or something?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They head over to a nearby restaurant called Carnivore’s Delight for their lunch break. Once they were seated, they ordered some sodas and burgers and they were now waiting for their food to arrive.

“So, I have a question for you.”, Mai started the conversation, “Does Ken think I’m crazy?”

“What do you think?”, Yuuji said with a chuckle.

“I know I wasn’t my best last night, but I don’t want him to think I’m _that_ crazy.”

“I know, so I warned him before you even came over that you can get crazy when you drink.”

“Well, at least you gave him a fair warning.”, there was a pause, “I’m so glad you two are together.”

“So am I.”, Yuuji said as a smile grew on his face.

“It’s a _huge_ upgrade, in my opinion.”, she said with confidence. “I was talking about you two to Ryu last night as we were driving home. Even Ryu thinks you two are good together.”

“Thanks, Mai.”

“No need to thank me, you deserve someone who treats you like Ken does.”

“You don’t have to tell me. It’s like when I met him, my whole life took a complete 180!”, Yuuji was beginning to speak enthusiastically.

“Does he even know about _him_?”

“Are you kidding? Of course he doesn’t! He doesn’t need to know _that_ aspect of my life.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean? I prefer to keep anything related to _him_ out of my current life.”

“I’m not sure if that’s really a good idea…”

“Why do you say that?”

“Look, I know that you’re trying to keep all of that bullshit behind you, but I just think you should tell Ken _something_ about him. You don’t have to go into full detail or anything.”

“Look, my current boyfriend doesn’t need to know anything about my past boyfriend. Emphasis on the word _past_. You said it yourself earlier; it’s not good to focus on the past. It distracts from the now.”, he imitated Mai’s “snooty” tone from earlier.

“Well, call me a hypocrite then. But, let’s say that you end up seeing him at Choza’s when you two go out tonight. What if he’s your waiter? Or what if just sees you and walks up to say hello? What are you going to do?”

“Why are you putting me in a bad mood? I’m paying for the both of us, don’t make me change my mind.”, Yuuji was starting to become a bit annoyed of this conversation. “And besides, you said that he didn’t work on Thursdays.”

“I’m just trying to get you to think of the hypotheticals of the situation. You’ll never know when trouble could come about and fuck with your life, my friend.”

“Well, let’s just pray to all the Gods that he won’t be there.”

“Alright then. But, seriously, think about what I said. It wouldn’t kill you if tell Ken the man’s name, at least.”

“Alright, let’s move on, shall we?”, Yuuji said, completely annoyed.

They waited a few more moments for their food to arrive. Once they were done eating, they head back to work and finish up for the day. After dropping off Mai once the day was over, Yuuji heads back to his apartment to get ready for his date with Ken.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji and Ken go out on their date, but it doesn't end well once Yuuji runs into a person from his past.

Yuuji was putting the finishing touches on his outfit for his date tonight when he heard a knock on the door. He goes to open the door and is greeted with Ken holding a bouquet of roses.

“Aww, you didn’t have to do that, babe. Thank you!”, Yuuji takes the flowers and gives his boyfriend a kiss.

“I just wanted to show these flowers how beautiful you were tonight.”

“Oh, ha ha. That’s a good one.”, Yuuji rolled his eyes as he put the flowers in a vase.

“I try my best. You ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me get my jacket.”

“Alright.”

He goes to his room to get his jacket when suddenly, his phone rings. It was Mai.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“ _Hey, I just wanted to know if you were at Choza’s yet._ ”

“No, we’re about to head out now. Why?”

“ _I just want to go over the game plan a bit more. I feel we didn’t explore all of our options._ ”

“Look, Colonel Mai,”, he said as he was walking out of his room and out of the apartment with Ken, “I already told you I don’t need a game plan for anything. Now, quit bothering me, woman.”

“ _You say that now, but you should remember that you’re the self-acclaimed King of Regrets. Need I remind you of the Chiba Summer Incident?_ ”

“No, you do not.”, Yuuji was getting into Ken’s car, and the two were off to the restaurant, “If I need your help along with your sass, I’ll give you a call. Now, you know the rules, and you know the code word. Goodbye, Mai.”

“ _Fine. Have fun, your highness._ ”

Yuuji hangs up and looks at Ken, “I’m sorry about that.”

“What was all that about?”, Ken asks with a chuckle.

“It’s just Mai being herself. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

After about 30 minutes, the two arrive at the restaurant. They were seated at a table near the bar. The setting was nice, the atmosphere was cheerful; it was a good place to have a dinner date. The two take their seats and order drinks. They took some time to look at the menu to figure out what they were going to eat.

“This place seems nice. How often do you come here?”, Ken asked.

“Pretty much whenever I can. Mai was the one who recommended this place to me. A family friend owns the place, so we always get a bit of a discount off of our bill.”

“That’s pretty cool. Can I expect the same thing for our date tonight?”

“Of course. I already told him I was coming here tonight.”

The couple smiled at one another, and a few moments later, they had placed their order. They were just sitting there, waiting for their food, having a pleasant conversation in the meantime.

“So, how was your day?”, Ken asked.

“It was fine. I just can’t wait for the weekend to come already. I’m ready for some rest and relaxation.”

“So am I. I was thinking about heading over to Osaka to see my parents. I told them that I’d ask to see if you’d like to come along.”

“Of course! God, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your parents. How are they doing?”

“They’re doing fine. Their cat finally gave birth, and now they’re looking for people to take some of the kittens off of their hands.”

“Well, I know what my late anniversary present is going to be.”, Yuuji said, laughing.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting you a kitten.”, Ken said, holding Yuuji’s hand.

“Yay, I’m getting a kitten!”

Yuuji’s excitement filled Ken with nothing but affection for his boyfriend. He kissed Yuuji’s hand, causing him to blush. Finally, their food arrive and they started eating. As he was eating, Yuuji was looking around the restaurant; being surrounded by the friendly faces and pleasant ambiance of the place put him in a good mood.

“Uh-oh, looks like the devil came to play!”, one of the bartenders yelled amongst his friends.

Yuuji looked over where all the commotion was and immediately dropped his fork, looking as if he had seen a ghost. A fairly tall, kind of muscular man had walked in the restaurant. He was wearing the same white button-up shirt, black jeans, and black dress shoes that the other bartenders were wearing, implicating that he worked here. He had his jet black hair in a short ponytail, and a majority of the women in the place had their heads turned towards the handsome man.

“Yuuji, is everything alright?”, Ken asked, noticing his boyfriend’s demeanor.

He just kept staring at this familiar stranger as he finally got to his friends.

“Yeah, yeah. Get the hell out of here, dumbass, before I change my mind.”

The man’s voice was deep and smooth. Yuuji was noticing some of the women who were ogling him started chatting in excited whispers about the man. But, his eyes were fixated on the man once again; not out of curiosity, but seemingly out of fear.

“Thanks, man. I owe you, big time.”

“It’s no problem. Just give me half your paycheck when you get it, and we can call it even.”, the man said with a chuckle.

“Alright, alright. I’ll see you guys around.”

The bartender left and the man took his position at the bar. Yuuji just sat in his seat, starting to quietly panic.

“Yuuji, what’s wrong?”, Ken asked, starting to become even more worried that he wasn’t answering.

“Nothing… I…I’ll be right back.”, he started to get up.

“Where are you going?”

“To the bar.”

He slowly made his way over to the bar, leaving his boyfriend to wonder why he was acting so strange. He eventually gets to the bar and sits a few seats down from a woman who the man was already chatting with a female patron.

“I didn’t expect to see you tonight, darling.”, the woman appeared older than Yuuji and the man, but that didn’t stop her from flirting with him.

“Yeah, well I didn’t expect to come in on my day off, but here we are.”, he had a charm about him that made Yuuji see why the ladies were acting the way they were.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, darling. I’ve had such an awful day!”

“Aww, what happened, Mrs. Tanaka? Your husband giving you troubles again?”, he asked while he was preparing a drink for the older woman.

“You know me so well, darling! I just can’t wait until this divorce follows through. I could use some company when I finally get to kick him out of the house, you know.”, she winks at the man who just responds with a chuckle.

“I’m sure you’ll find the perfect company to keep you occupied, Mrs. Tanaka.”, he hands her the martini he made.

“I told you to stop calling me that. Once the divorce is final, I’m taking back my maiden name. From now on, I’ll be Ms. Yamaguchi. But, you can call me Aiko, darling.”

“Understood.”, he takes her hand and gives it a kiss, causing the older woman to nearly fall out of her chair.

“You’re going to send me to an early grave, Akihisa!”, as soon as the name left her lips, Yuuji’s stomach twisted in so many directions.

“You can’t leave me yet, Aiko. I won’t allow it.”

He gave the older woman a charming smile and moved on to the next patron. But, he looked towards his right and sees Yuuji sitting at the end of the bar. He looks at Yuuji with his deep black eyes and makes his way over to him. All Yuuji could do was sit there, paralyzed by his fear of what could possibly happen. Finally, the two were face-to-face.

“Can I get you anything?”, the man asked.

“Water, please…”, Yuuji requested quietly.

“You got it.”

He walks over to get him a glass of water and comes back moments later. He hands Yuuji the glass and he immediately starts downing the water. Akihisa just stood there looking Yuuji, who couldn’t even look in his general direction.

After moments of silence, Akihisa finally said, “I see time hasn’t done much to you, Yu.”

Yuuji nearly choked on his water. Akihisa just kept staring at him, causing Yuuji to become even more uncomfortable.

“Did you get your anniversary gift?”

“Yes…I did…”, he responded quietly once more.

“Look, I just want you to know that it wasn’t my idea to get you that stuff, alright?”, Akihisa spoke as if there wasn’t any tension at all. “Did you get to use any of it yet?”

“If I did, why the hell would I tell you of all people?”, although Yuuji’s voice was quiet, it started to have hints of anger in it.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make conversation here. It’s been forever since we last seen each other. How long has it been? 3 years now?”, he just had his “charming” smile on his face the entire time. “Anyway, what brings you here?”

“I’m on a date with my boyfriend.”

“Oh, really? Where is he? How come you’re not with him right now?”

Yuuji didn’t really have an answer to that question, but he didn’t care, “Listen, I’m only going to tell you once: don’t think you can try to weasel your way back into my life, okay? Because it’s not going to happen.”

“Who said anything about me trying to _weasel_ my way back in? What are you even talking about?”

“Your note on the card. You said that you miss me.”

“I’m not denying that. Is it wrong to tell you that?”

“I just don’t want to hear it, alright? I’ve moved on with my life and I don’t need you to ruin things for me.”

“Yu, the only way I could ‘ _ruin_ ’ anything is if you let me. And besides, all I did was tell you that I missed you. On a card. Talk about being paranoid.”

“I’m not being paranoid!”, this time, he let his anger get the best of him. “I know how you are; I’m not stupid!”

“No one said you were, Yu.”

“Stop calling me that!”

He threw his glass of water in Akihisa’s face in complete frustration. The restaurant went a bit silent because of the commotion.

Akihisa grabbed Yuuji by his shirt and practically pulled him over the counter, “You always did love to test me, didn’t you?”

Ken had been looking over where Yuuji was the whole time, and finally he had decided to get up and rush over to him.

“Yuuji, what the hell is going on?!”

Akihisa looked over at Ken from the corner of his eye and asked in a low voice, “Is that him?”

“Hey, get off of him!”

“You know, I have half a mind to kick your ass in front of him. But then again, what’s really stopping me?”, shortly after he said that, he punched Yuuji in the face, causing him to fall back a bit.

“Hey!”, Ken went to confront Akihisa, but Yuuji immediately got in the way. “Yuuji, what are you—”

“Let’s go.”

“But, Yuuji—”

“I said let’s go!”, he looked at Ken with tears of frustration.

After a moment of silence, Ken takes Yuuji by the hand and the couple walk out of the restaurant as fast as they could.

“Don’t start shit if you can’t finish it, kid.”, Akihisa called out to him as he left.

Yuuji didn’t even bother to look back at him. As soon as he and Ken were in the car, the two head back to Yuuji’s apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji and Ken go back to Yuuji's apartment after their date gone bad. Afterwards, Yuuji has a dream about what happened between he and Akihisa years ago.

As soon as Ken pulled up at Yuuji’s place, Yuuji rushes out of the car and into the building, saying nothing to Ken. Ken rushes behind him, still trying to get an answer to what had just happened earlier.

“Yuuji, will you stop and talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”, he hurriedly opens his door and nearly slams it in Ken’s face.

“You can’t stand there and tell me _that_ was nothing. You threw water at him and he punched you! Who the hell was that guy anyway?”

“I told you that there’s nothing to talk about, so just drop it already, alright?!”, Yuuji was on the verge of tears at this point, which was obvious to Ken.

“Clearly there’s something wrong with you, Yuuji. Or else you wouldn’t be acting this way. Look, just calm down. I just want you to calm down.”, he helped him into a chair and went to get him some water. He hands Yuuji the glass and sits next to him. “Now, who was that guy at the bar?”

“He’s no one. I don’t want to talk about it, so just leave it alone, okay?”, Yuuji gets up and goes straight to his room.

“This conversation isn’t over, Yuuji.”

“Fuck off.”

That was the last thing he said to Ken before slamming the door to his room. Ken had no other choice but to leave Yuuji alone and go home. Yuuji didn’t even bother changing in his pajamas. He just laid there in his bed, his face buried in his pillow, trying to forget about tonight and go to sleep.

  

It was the afternoon in Sakurazaka High School, right around lunchtime for the students. Yuuji and Mai were sitting in their homeroom classroom eating their lunch and discussing their day so far.

“Man, lunchtime could not have come any sooner. I’m starving!”

Mai shouted. Her hair was long and black, a complete contrast to the short, dirty blonde hair she had in the present. Her voice was lighter, and her appearance was more girly than it was nowadays. However, she still acted the same as she does in the present.

“You’re always starving.”

Yuuji’s appearance didn’t seem to change much; his hair was still short and light brown, and his face was still rounded and soft. He didn’t seem to grow much, either. His voice was still a bit light, and he was still soft-spoken.

“Oh, shut up. What’s for lunch today?”, she was eyeing Yuuji’s lunch, practically drooling.

“You have your own food. Back off.”

Suddenly, the classroom door opened and in came 3 boys, seemingly upperclassmen. They stood there for a moment talking amongst themselves. They mainly paid attention to Mai.

Finally, one of them spoke up and asked, “Hey. You Mai Nakano?”

Yuuji and Mai looked at each other nervously. She reluctantly said, “Y-yeah…”

Then the 3 boys signaled a fourth boy to come in. He was tall and had a bit of muscles on him. He had short, jet black hair, and a look that could kill. He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it as he walked over to Yuuji and Mai. The 3 boys followed behind him as if he were their leader.

“So, you’re Mai, huh?.”, he said as he used Yuuji’s lunch as a makeshift ashtray. He was checking her out a bit, “Not bad.”

“What…?”

Both Yuuji and Mai were getting scared. Suddenly, one of the boys grabbed Mai out of her seat and held her by the arm.

“Hey, let go of me!”, she yelled as she tried to get out of the boy’s grasp.

“Hey, what are you—Agh!”, Yuuji was shoved out of his seat by the leader of the pack.

“Aww, what’s the matter, kid?”, he picks Yuuji up by the collar of his shirt, “Did we interrupt something?”

“Hey! Just because you’re seniors, doesn’t mean you get to pick on whoever you want!”, Mai spoke up.

The boy who was holding her smacked her across the face, “Shut it, bitch!”

“Leave her alone!”, Yuuji yelled. The leader shoved him again, and this time he punched Yuuji in the stomach.

“Yuuji!”

Mai managed to turn her body so that she was in the position to kick her captor right in between the legs. She tried to rush to Yuuji’s aid, but was stopped by the other two boys that were there.

“Yo, Akihisa. This brat’s becoming a nuisance. What do you want us to do with her?”

Akihisa just turned back and looked at Mai with malice in his eyes, “Don’t worry, we’ll handle her soon enough. I’m sure that mouth of hers is good for _something_.”

Realizing what he meant, Yuuji sprang up and tried to help his friend, but was immediately stopped by Akihisa. The two boys started feeling her up, lifting her skirt and putting their hands down her blouse.

“Leave her alone! Let her go!”, Yuuji was crying, begging them to let his friend go. Mai, herself, was in tears, fearing of what the boys were going to do to her.

“Oh, look who’s feeling all brave.”, he picks Yuuji up and pins him against the wall, “Stay in your lane, kid. Don’t want yourself getting hurt, do you?”

“Fuck off, you bastard! Don’t you dare hurt her!”, Yuuji was yelling and kicking around trying to get free.

“What are you going to do, kid?”, Akihisa looked back at his cohorts and then back at Yuuji, who just looked at him with tearful eyes. “You’re becoming a pain, and quite frankly, it’s pissing me off.”

“Leave him alone!”, Mai was still struggling to get free. The boy who she downed eventually got back up and smacked her again out of frustration.

“Look, do whatever you want to me, but just leave her alone!”

Akihisa took a moment to think, looking back and forth at Mai and Yuuji. When he saw the opportunity, Yuuji kneed him in the groin, causing Akihisa to fall over. Yuuji grabbed Mai and they both sprinted out of the classroom. Akihisa and his group rushed after them. Yuuji and Mai ran down the hallways as fast as they could, trying to shake the seniors off of their trail. They head downstairs to the school’s lower floor, but come to realize that it was a mistake. Once they got down there, Akihisa and his friends immediately had them cornered. The 4 boys backed them up into the door of the storage room.

“You little shits are going to get it now.”, one of the boys said.

“Shut up.”, Akihisa said with a dark tone in his voice. “Take the girl. I want this fucker all to myself.”

Yuuji immediately stood in front of Mai to protect her and sternly said, “Leave her alone!”

Akihisa yanks Yuuji by his shirt. “ _She’s_ not my problem right now.”, he turns his attention to his friends once more, “Take the bitch and put her away somewhere. And don’t do anything until I call you.”

The 3 boys drag Mai away from Yuuji and took her back upstairs. Once they went away, Akihisa opened the door to the storage room and shoved Yuuji inside. Once they were both inside, Akihisa placed a metal pole in between the door handles so that no one could get in. He then turned his attention back to Yuuji, who was cowering in a corner of the room. He walks towards him and looks down on him.

“Don’t start shit if you can’t finish it, kid.”

Out of fear, Yuuji started yelling as loud as he could. Finally, he sat straight up in his bed, awaking from the dream he was in. He held onto his pillow as tight as he could to try and calm himself down. After a few moments of silence, he picked up his phone and called Mai.

“ _Hello?_ ”, she groggily said.

“Hey…did I wake you up?”

“ _Yeah, but it’s fine. What’s wrong?_ ”

“Can you come over? I…I can’t sleep.”

“ _Is everything alright?_ ”

“No…everything’s not alright…”, he started to cry.

“ _Okay, I’m on my way. Unlock the door for me._ ”

“Alright.”

Once he hangs up the phone, Yuuji gets up to unlock his apartment door. After that, he sits on the couch, waiting for Mai to come over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mai comes over to Yuuji's apartment, and the two discuss what happened on his date.

After about an hour, Mai lets herself into Yuuji’s apartment and goes to the couch where he is. She was carrying a couple of bags with her.

“Hey, I’m here. I brought some snacks and booze. Let’s get this party started.”, she sat down next to Yuuji, set the bags down, and gave him a hug.

“I appreciate it, Mai.”

“It’s no prob…what the hell happened to your lip?!”

“What are you talking about?”, Mai turned on her phone’s camera and held it up to Yuuji’s face, showing him the bruised lip that he had. “Oh, God!”

“Did you viciously make out with a brick wall or something?”

“No, I…”, he was a bit reluctant to tell her what actually happened. “I went to Choza’s with Ken, right? We were having a good time, and then all of a sudden…”

“What? What happened?”

Yuuji looked at Mai with frustration and started hitting her. She was hitting him back and they eventually stopped.

“What the fuck?!”

“You fucking jinxed it, asshole!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Akihisa was there!”

Mai just sat there, beginning to feel somewhat guilty about the situation, “Yuuji…”

“He was there, and I went over to him like a fucking idiot, and we were talking, and…that’s how I got _this_.”, he pointed at his busted lip and started crying again. “Why the hell did I even go up to him?”

“Look, Yuuji, don’t blame yourself for what happened, alright? I’m sure whatever happened it was totally his fault.”

“I threw water in his face.”

“I don’t care. Still his fault.”, she hugged him once more and held on even longer, “Look, just don’t think about it anymore, okay? It happened, and there’s nothing we can do to change it, so let’s just move on.”

“I even snapped at Ken, and now he’s going to hate me…”, he said through sobs.

“He’s not going to hate you, Yuuji. I’m sure he understands that you were just upset. What did he do when you and Akihisa were talking?”

“He was just sitting there. He didn’t get up until I threw the water at him.”

“Well, I hope Ken kicked his ass when he punched you.”

“He didn’t…”, he quietly said.

“What?!”, Mai became angry, “Why the hell not?!”

“Because I stopped him before he could do anything.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I didn’t want Aki to hurt him!”, there was a moment of silence, “I know how bad Aki’s temper can get, and I wasn’t about to let Ken go through that…”

“I’m sure Ken would’ve been able to handle himself, Yuuji.”

“No, he wouldn’t have! Mai, I would know better than anyone else what Aki is capable of.”

“Stop calling him that!”, Mai yelled at the top of her lungs. Yuuji just stared at her in stunned silence as tears started streaming down her cheeks, “You promised me that you would never call him that ever again. You promised me!”

“Mai, I…”

“The more you call him that, the more I’m beginning to think that there’s still a bit of him that still has a hold on you, and I’m not going to let that happen!”, another moment of silence, “You should’ve just let Ken handle it.”

“I wasn’t about to—”

“It doesn’t matter! You protected him! That monster deserves every bit of pain he would’ve felt if you had just let Ken handle it. Hell, I wish I was there because you know damn well you wouldn’t have been able to stop me!”

All Yuuji could do was look down in shame about the whole situation. Mai eventually calmed down a bit and hugged her best friend once more.

“You know I’m only like this because I love you, Yuuji. I just…”

“It’s alright. I love you too, Mai. And thank you…for everything.”

She lets him go and wipes her and his tears away, “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now, who’s ready to get drunk?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

The two friends laugh it off and spend the night watching movies and eating snacks.

 

It was the next day and Yuuji and Mai were at work. It was kind of a slow day, so Mai was sitting on the counter, chatting with Yuuji.

“Do you think I should dye my hair again?”, Mai asked.

“To what color?”, Yuuji responded while eating some chips.

“I don’t know. I kind of want my black hair back, but I don’t want it to be just black, you know?”

“Maybe you should do black and keep some blonde streaks in there, or highlights would look nice too.”

“You think so?”

“Sure, but then again you always look beautiful in any hair color, so what does it matter?”

“Ooh, looks like someone’s trying to get in my pants.”, Mai jokingly said as she took his chips.

“Well, that ass _is_ my property.”

“Sure is, daddy.”

The two of them burst into laughter as Ryu walks in the store.

“What’s up, you guys?”

“Watch out, babe. You have some competition taking the lead to my heart.”, Mai said as she got off of the counter and gave her boyfriend a kiss.

“Oh, really? Who’s trying to steal my girl?”

“That would be me, sir.”, Yuuji said, laughing.

“Oh, well then, I was already fighting a losing battle.”, Ryu said, joining in on their fun. “Hey, what happened to your lip, Yuuji?”

“It’s nothing. I just got into a little scuffle, that’s all.”

“What? When? You don’t need me to kick someone’s ass, do you?”

“No, it’s fine. But, thanks for the offer.”

“Alright, if you say so. Well, Mai and I were planning on going out for lunch today. Want to join us?”

“No, thanks. I’ll find something else to do for lunch. But, I appreciate the offer.”

“Aww, you sure you don’t want to come with us?”, Mai asked, feeling a bit down.

“I’m sure. You kids go have fun. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Alright then. See you in a while.”, Mai gave him a hug and then walked out the door with Ryu.

“Later, Yuuji.”

“See you.”

Yuuji watched them leave for lunch and headed to the break room in the back of the store. He didn’t get much sleep after last night. He laid on the couch and took his break time to take a nap.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji has another dream, recalling the traumatic event that happened back in high school.

_“Don’t start shit if you can’t finish it, kid…”_

Yuuji opens his eyes to see Akihisa standing over him in the school’s storage room. Suddenly, Akihisa gives him a swift kick in the stomach, causing Yuuji to collapse on the floor. Akihisa just kept kicking and stomping on him nonstop. After a few moments, he lifts Yuuji up and slams him against the wall.

“What’s the matter, kid? Not feeling brave anymore?”, his deep black eyes looking straight into Yuuji’s light blue ones was enough to render Yuuji speechless. “This is why freshmen like you should stay out of seniors’ business.”, he lets him down just to punch him in the face. He takes one last look at his handiwork and then walks away.

Yuuji looks up at Akihisa, trying to muster up some courage, “What? That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

He looks back at the freshman, “Don’t think you’re in any position to talk, kid. Shut up now while you still have all of your teeth in your skull.”, he begins to walk away, but pauses. “Hey, your friend’s kind of cute. I’m sure she’ll be great…’ _stress relief_ ’ after dealing with you.”, he begins to walk away again, laughing as he did.

Seething with rage, Yuuji springs up and throws the hardest punch he could. Suddenly, the two boys start going at it. Yuuji was hitting anywhere he could, as hard as he could, but was eventually taken down when Akihisa kneed him in the stomach again. He took that moment to start beating on Yuuji in a vicious manner. He just kept punching and punching and then suddenly he started choking him. Yuuji tried to fight him off as best he could, but it was useless. Then, Akihisa banged Yuuji’s head on the floor and got off of him.

“You’re such a fucking brat.”, Akihisa said as he wiped the blood off of his lip. “But like I said,”, he leaned down towards Yuuji, “don’t start shit if you can’t finish it, kid. Do you understand me?”

Before he could get up, Yuuji grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, “Please…I’m begging you…don’t…hurt her…”

Yuuji’s desperation was apparent to Akihisa. He lifts him up from the floor and shoves him back a bit.

“You really don’t give up, do you? Alright then…”, he walks closer to Yuuji, causing him to be backed into the wall. He balls up his fist and punches the wall, inches away from Yuuji’s face, “Since you’re so adamant about it, I guess I just have to look somewhere else for some fun.”

Yuuji just looked at him with panicked eyes, “What…?”

He yanks Yuuji by his shirt and, to Yuuji’s surprise, presses his lips onto his. Yuuji tried to push him away, but Akihisa pressed his body onto his, making sure he couldn’t get away.

“You didn’t want me to touch her, right? Is it because… _you_ wanted this?”

“No, get off of me!”

Akihisa holds Yuuji’s hands over his head and against the wall with one of his own, and puts the other up his shirt, feeling him up. Yuuji managed to turn his head away from Akihisa’s lips, but that only made him start kissing his neck.

“Please…don’t…”, Yuuji whispered.

“It’s either you or her. Take your pick.”

Akihisa had a chilling voice that sent shivers down Yuuji’s spine. Akihisa continued kissing his neck, teasingly biting it as he went along. He bit down harder, and suddenly, Yuuji felt him sucking on his neck. He started feeling a bit strange and a little lightheaded, suddenly becoming weak in the knees.

“What’s the matter, kid? Can’t handle it?”, Akihisa asks in a low voice.

He pulls Yuuji’s face towards him, making their lips meet again. Then, his hand started maneuvering its way down to Yuuji’s lower body. Once it got in between his legs, it started rubbing Yuuji’s crotch, causing his knees to buckle. He falls onto the floor, his face near Akihisa’s lower half now. Akihisa held Yuuji by his hair with one hand while the other unfastened his pants. Once his pants were undone, he reached down inside and pulled out his dick. He held it there in front of Yuuji’s face. He tried his best to look at anything else, but his eyes always stumbled back to it.

“Open your mouth.”, Akihisa demanded. Yuuji’s mouth stayed closed. “I said open your fucking mouth.”

Akihisa pulled on his hair even harder, causing Yuuji to yell out in pain. In that moment, Akihisa shoved his dick inside Yuuji’s mouth, letting out a moan of arousal. Yuuji just sat there, doing absolutely nothing. He started to feel a bit nauseated.

“Hey, don’t just sit there.”, Yuuji looked up at him, unsure of what to do, “Just start sucking on it. Go on.”

Finally, Yuuji did as he was told and started sucking on it. As he did so, Akihisa kept letting out moan after moan, completely getting turned on, so much that he started moving his hips a bit.

“Use your tongue more.”

Yuuji reluctantly did just that, afraid of what could happen if he didn’t listen.

_“This is all I have to do…for Mai…”_ , he was determined to keep his best friend out of danger.

Yuuji just closed his eyes and kept sucking Akihisa off. Then, he pulled himself out of his mouth and stood him up. He turned him around and pulled down his pants. Yuuji stood there, silently panicking.

_“What the hell is he doing?”_

“You’re a virgin, right? I’m not going to catch anything from you, am I?”

“Wait, what? No, please…don’t do this…”

Akihisa pushes his face against the wall, “Like I said, you or her. You put yourself in this situation. Now, you have to take responsibility for it.”

He pulls down Yuuji’s underwear and starts feeling him up once again. He caressed his ass and worked his way to his inner thighs. Yuuji stood there trembling; not out of pleasure, but out of apprehension and fear.

Then, Akihisa put two of his fingers in Yuuji’s mouth, “Lick them.”

Yuuji reluctantly did as he was told again. Once he was done, Akihisa took them out of his mouth and slowly slid them inside Yuuji’s virgin hole. Yuuji started wincing a bit; he had never experienced anything like this before. Akihisa started sliding his fingers in and out of Yuuji.

“Would you fucking relax? The more you fight it, the more it’s going to hurt.”

Yuuji couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was squirming around, trying to get him to stop, but it was no use. Akihisa finally took his fingers out of him and started stroking his dick a little bit, making sure it stayed hard. He made Yuuji arch his back a bit and open his legs a bit farther apart. Then, he started rubbing his dick against Yuuji’s hole, putting a bit of the tip inside and taking it back out.

“I don’t have a condom or anything, but I don’t think we’ll need it.”, Akihisa said with a chuckle. “So…you ready?”

Yuuji stayed quiet for a moment, but then quietly said, “Please, I’ll do anything…just don’t do this…”

Akihisa noticed how desperate and defeated Yuuji was, but he didn’t seem to care. He leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek and whispers in a sadistic tone, “There’s no going back, kid.”, just as he said that, the school bell had rung, signaling that it was time for third period, “Don’t mind the bell… We’re going to be here for a while.”

He turns Yuuji’s head away from him and held it against the wall. Finally, Akihisa slowly started to enter inside of Yuuji. He kept going until Yuuji’s ass got to the base. He stood still for a moment, giving Yuuji time to get used to it.

“How does it feel?”, Akihisa asked.

“It…hurts… Take it out, please!”, Yuuji begged with a tearful voice.

“No way. We’re just getting started.”

So, Akihisa started moving slowly at first, agonizingly teasing the terrified freshman. Yuuji just closed his eyes, wanting things to end as quickly as they could.

_“Please…someone help…!”_ , he started to shed silent tears.

Time seemed to be moving a lot slower the more time that the boys were in the storage room. There was no clock in there, no neither of them knew how long they had been in there. Akihisa was still fucking Yuuji, his movements gradually getting faster and harder. Neither of them had said a word during any of it. The only sounds in the room were Akihisa’s grunts of arousal and Yuuji’s moans of pain and desperation. All of a sudden, Akihisa pulls himself out of Yuuji.

_“Is it over…?”_

“Turn around.”

“What…? Why?”

Akihisa gave a sigh of frustration, “Quit asking questions and just turn the fuck around.”

He made Yuuji turn around, shoving him while he did so out of impatience. Then, Akihisa placed his hands on Yuuji’s ass and began to lift him up. Once Yuuji’s feet were off of the floor, he put himself back inside of him, and began fucking him once again. Yuuji had to hold onto Akihisa to make sure that he didn’t fall. The two never made direct eye contact; Akihisa’s eyes were fixated on Yuuji’s face while Yuuji did what he could to avoid those cold eyes. Then, Akihisa leaned in for a kiss which Yuuji denied. He scoffed at Yuuji’s attitude about the situation. But, he couldn’t help but to laugh.

“You know…”, Akihisa started to say, “You’re pretty cute when you’re being stubborn like this.”

Yuuji said nothing, continuing looking down at the floor, silently loathing Akihisa with every fiber of his being.

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

“Shut up…”

Akihisa rolled his eyes and continued thrusting into Yuuji, “Stubborn fuck…”

Yuuji finally had enough. He fought his way off of Akihisa and tried to run, but he was caught immediately. Akihisa slammed him against the wall and shoved his dick back inside of him, making sure that it caused Yuuji a lot of pain.

“Help! Somebody, help me!”, Yuuji yelled as loud as he could, but Akihisa quickly covered his mouth.

“Shut the fuck up!”, he started moving his hips more vigorously, making sure it was as painful for Yuuji as possible. “You got yourself into this. Now, shut the fuck up and quit your whining.”

All Yuuji could do was stand there and let him completely break him. He tried to cry out as loud as he could, but his sobs were stifled by Akihisa having his hand over his mouth. The next few minutes were complete agony for Yuuji. As time moved hellishly slow, Akihisa started to notice that Yuuji had stopped fighting back altogether. He just stood there, his eyes closed, and his cries growing silent.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Say something.”

He smacked Yuuji’s face a little, but he wasn’t saying a word. He just stood there shedding silent tears. It was like Yuuji had completely given up and just let him do whatever he wanted. Then, Akihisa decided to stop moving. Even then, there was no reaction from Yuuji. Finally, he found it hard to ignore the tears that were coming down Yuuji’s face. He took one of his hands and started wiping them away. Yuuji looked back at him with tearful, yet seemingly lifeless eyes, and then looked away again.

“Just get it over with…please…”, Yuuji quietly said.

“Alright.”

Akihisa started moving again and the boys were silent once more. Finally, both of them seemed to be reaching their limits. Akihisa’s thrusts became faster and stronger while Yuuji’s body began tensing up again. Then, after a few moments of nonstop movement, Akihisa lets out a loud grunt and begins to cum inside of Yuuji. Then, Yuuji came shortly afterwards. Both boys stood there, trembling in the aftermath of their orgasms.

Akihisa backs away from Yuuji as he puts his clothes back on. Once he was dressed again, he rushes straight to the door. Akihisa straightens himself up and goes to the door as well. Once he got there, Yuuji already had removed the metal pipe from between the door handles and bolts out of the room. He runs straight to the bathroom, into one of the stalls, and sits on the floor to cry. After a few minutes, someone else had come into the bathroom. Yuuji tried to stifle his sobs, but was discovered by Akihisa. He pulls him up from the floor and pins him against the wall.

“Look, you already got what you wanted from me. Just leave—”, he was interrupted by Akihisa kissing him on the lips. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you were going to tell anyone about what happened. I don’t want anyone to know about this. I promise I won’t hurt your friend if you promise you’ll keep your mouth shut, got it?”

“Alright. Now, get off of me.”, Akihisa didn’t move one bit. Instead, he kissed him again. With each kiss, Yuuji became even more confused. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can…”, he quietly responded. “You going to do something about it?”

Yuuji just stood there in silence because he knew that he couldn’t even fight back. He didn’t have the strength to anymore. “Just leave me alone…”

“I have one more condition to our promise.”

Yuuji just stared at him, wondering what else he could possibly want, “What is it? I already told you I won’t tell anyone about what happened.”

“I know, but how could I really know if you’re lying to me?”

“How could I know that _you’re_ not the liar here?!”

“Which is why I’m only going to tell you this once: from now on, every day, after school, you come home with me. Don’t ask any questions about anything.”, he caressed Yuuji’s cheek, wiping away the tears as they fell, “After what happened today…”, he just looked at Yuuji with his deep black eyes, which seemed to be less menacing that earlier.

“You’re…not going to…?”

“Let me make it up to you. I’ll leave your friend alone if you do this. And you can’t tell anyone about what happened. Promise?”

Yuuji stood there in total shock about this complete 180 that Akihisa had seem to take. But, he just wanted the assurance that Mai would be safe, “Alright. I promise.”

“Good.”, he kisses Yuuji again. This time, Yuuji didn’t fight back. He lets Yuuji go and takes out his phone to call one of his friends. “Hey, it’s me. Let the girl go.”

“ _What? Why?_ ”

“Did I stutter? Let her go. Now.”, he hangs up the phone and turns back to Yuuji.

“Thank you…”

“No problem.”, he starts to make his leave, but then pauses. “Yuuji, right?”

“Yeah… And you’re Akihisa, right?”

“Yeah.”, he turns around and gives Yuuji a charming smile, “But, call me Aki, okay?”

_“Yuuji… Yuuji, wake up!”_

Finally, Yuuji sits up on the couch in the store’s break room. Mai was kneeling down next to him.

“Jeez, dude. I tried waking you up for like 2 minutes. I almost called an ambulance. You okay?”

“Yeah… I’m alright.”

He gets up from the couch and heads back out to the front of the store with Mai to continue their work day.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji and Mai's Friday night gets interrupted by a surprise guest.

It was later that Friday night, and Yuuji and Mai were in his apartment in their pajamas. They had a movie on, but it was mainly background noise while the two of them were talking.

“So, I was thinking about dying my hair this pink color. What do you think?”, she shows him a picture on her phone.

“I like that color. It might look good on you.”

“It _might_? Wow, rude.”

“Hey, you’ll never know. Remember the last time you wore pink? You regretted that decision immediately.”

“Okay, but that’s wearing pink _clothes_ , not having pink hair. Be a bit more optimistic, for fuck’s sake.”, Mai sounded a bit snippier than usual.

“What’s wrong with you?”

She gave a sigh of frustration, “Ryu and I kind of gotten into a bit of a lover’s quarrel at lunch today.”

“Wait, what? Why? What happened?”

“So, I told him about what happened between you and Lucifer,”, Yuuji just rolled his eyes, but continued to listen, “and I asked him where he was when it happened. It turns out he wasn’t working that night. So, I asked him when he would see him again. He asked why. I told him it’s because I want him to ‘talk’ to the bastard and beat the shit out of him.”

“Mai, come on! Don’t drag him in this.”

“That’s what he said. I’m still upset over the fact that he got away with punching you.”

“All he did was punch me. You act like he brought dishonor on my entire family.”

“Why are you so calm about all of this?”, Mai asked, frustrated.

“Because I’m over it already. It happened, now it’s time to move on.”

“Sounds like I’ve been rubbing off on you a bit.”

“You were the one who said that the other day.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m glad I thought of it.”, Mai said with a proud chuckle.

Yuuji couldn’t help but to look at his best friend with the utmost appreciation. She’s been with him since they were young children. He gave her a surprise hug, which she returned. Then, there was a knock on the door. Yuuji got up to go get it. Once he opened the door, there was Ryu on the other side.

“Hey, Yuuji.”

“Hey, Ryu. Come on in.”

Mai took her wine glass and ran straight to Yuuji’s bedroom. Yuuji just rolled his eyes and he and Ryu went to the living room.

“Oh, hey. I brought someone with me. He’s parking my car for me. I hope that’s alright.”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine.”

Just as soon as he said that, there was another knock on the door. Yuuji went to open it, and once he did, he nearly fainted.

“Hey.”, Akihisa said in his usual cool voice. Yuuji just stood there in silence. “You going to let me in?”

Yuuji moved aside and Akihisa walked into the apartment. He went to the living room and stood next to Ryu. He gestured the two men to have a seat, and they did.

“Hey, Mai…we have company…”, Yuuji nervously called out to her. He didn’t want to be alone with his guests, particularly one of them.

“Yeah, I’m aware. Thank you for the update, friend.”, she yelled back, not leaving the room.

“Come on, babe. Get out here.”, Ryu said.

“You know,”, Mai started saying as she walked out of the room, ready to argue, “I just think it’s funny that…”, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw who else was there.

Yuuji just looked at her nervously, “You want to have a seat?”

“What is he doing here?”, she asked angrily.

“I brought him here, calm down.”, Ryu said nonchalantly.

“Don’t tell me to calm down! What the fuck is he doing here?!”, she started charging right for Akihisa, but Yuuji immediately stopped her.

“Mai, please stop! Just calm down.”

“Mai, chill the fuck out! I brought him over here so that he could apologize to Yuuji about what happened yesterday.”, Ryu explained.

Mai stopped trying to get at Akihisa and took a seat, still upset about his very presence. Yuuji sat down next to her, but sat closer to her just in case he needed to play goalie again.

“Look, I know what I did was unnecessary, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too.”, Yuuji quietly said. Mai scoffed at the whole situation. “Mai, please. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Trust me, this is only level one of me being ridiculous. Don’t test me, Yuuji.”

Yuuji gave a sigh of frustration, “Mai, he apologized. What more do you want from him?”

“I want him to return to the hellhole he crawled out of.”

“I see you’re still feisty as ever, Mai.”, Akihisa casually said.

“Don’t you fucking talk to me, asshole! You apologized, so why don’t you just get the fuck out of here already?!”, she snapped.

“And what are you going to do if I don’t?”, he said in a teasing voice. It was obvious that he didn’t take her seriously.

“Alright, that’s enough! Both of you stop it or I’m kicking both of you out!”, Yuuji had enough of their attitudes towards one another.

Akihisa gave a look of understanding and left Mai alone. She, on the other hand, grabbed Yuuji’s hand and took him to the kitchen so that they could talk in private.

“You’re just going to sit there and let him talk to me like that?”

“I told both of you to cut it out. I don’t like the way he’s speaking to you, but I don’t appreciate your attitude either.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”, Mai started yelling, “You know damn well how I feel about him. Why are you acting so nice to him?!”

“It’s called being civil, Mai!”, his voice matched Mai’s volume. “What the hell is wrong with trying to put things behind us?!”

“After all he did to you, you have the nerve to forgive this man?!”

“If I didn’t let him do what he did, _you_ would be the one in this situation instead of me! I only did it to save _your_ ass, and this is the thanks I get?!”

“How long are you going to keep throwing that in my face?!”

“Until you realize how ridiculous you’re being!”

Both of them just stared at each other, tears of frustration and anger in their eyes.

Then, Mai finally said, “You’ve lost your fucking mind if you think I’m okay with this.”

“I couldn’t care less if you were okay with this or not, I just want to move on from this once and for all. If you’re not going to stick by my side through this, then the door’s that way.”

Mai just let the tears fall down her cheeks as she just stared at her best friend, her heart shattering with each passing moment. She quickly turned away and headed back into the living room. She grabbed her belongings and her car keys and left the apartment without saying another word.

“Mai, where are you going? Hey!”, Ryu immediately followed her, trying to figure out what just happened.

Akihisa just sat there, confused about what had just happened. Then, he turned his head to the sound of Yuuji crying in the kitchen. He gets up and goes over to him. He looks at him for a moment, and then just holds him, not saying a word. Yuuji instinctively held him as tightly as he could, crying his eyes out.

“I’m sorry, Yu.”, Akihisa quietly said. “If it’ll help, I won’t bother you anymore, okay?”

He tried to walk away, but Yuuji wouldn’t let him go, “Please…don’t leave me alone… Don’t leave me, Aki…”

“Alright, I won’t go anywhere.”, he gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “Do you want me to spend the night?”, Yuuji just nodded. “Okay, I’ll stay.”

Yuuji took Akihisa by the hand and led him to his bedroom. He laid down on the bed and Akihisa followed suit. Once he was on the bed, Yuuji continued holding him for comfort. Akihisa just held him in return, rubbing his back and giving him kisses here and there. They spent the rest of the evening like this until they fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji has another dream taking place during another important time in his life.

Yuuji opened his eyes and found himself in a totally different bed. He looked at Akihisa, who was 20 years old this time around. He picked up his phone from the nightstand and checked the time. It was almost 8:00 in the morning on a Wednesday. He was late for school; he was a junior in high school around this time. Yuuji made his way to get up but Akihisa stopped him from doing so.

“Where are you going?”, he asked, half-awake.

“I have to get to school.”, he tried to get up again, but Akihisa pulled him in close to him.

“Just stay here with me. Take the day off.”

“I can’t just take the day off. I have a test in chemistry today and I can’t miss it.”

Akihisa wasn’t letting him go, “But, I want you to stay here with me. Don’t make me tell you again.”

After a few moments, Yuuji finally gave in, “Fine. But, if I fail chemistry, I’m blaming you.”

“Fine with me.”, he gives Yuuji a kiss on his forehead and tries to go back to sleep.

“Well, can I at least use the bathroom since I’m staying here?”

“Fine, but make it quick.”

“Alright, I’ll be back.”

Yuuji gets up and goes to use the bathroom. Afterwards, he goes to the living room area, sits on the couch, and uses his phone to call someone.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Hey, Mai. Are you going to be in school today?”

“ _I already am. Homeroom hasn’t started yet. Where are you?_ ”

“I’m not coming today. I have a doctor’s appointment.”

“ _Dude, the chemistry test is today._ ”

“Yeah, I know. But, can you get me a copy of the assignments for the other classes?”

“ _Uhh, sure… Is everything okay, Yuuji? You haven’t been to school at all so far this week. It’s not like you to miss so much school._ ”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been sick and now I’m finally going to the doctor about it.”

“ _Okay then. Maybe I can come over after school and bring you some soup or something._ ”

“That sounds nice. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“ _No problem, friend._ ”

“Alright, now don’t forget—hey!”, Akihisa had taken his phone and hung up. “What was that for?”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Uhh…”, Yuuji was a bit reluctant to answer.

Then, Akihisa pulled him up from the couch, “I asked who you were talking to. I’ve asked twice. Answer me.”

Finally, Yuuji quietly said, “Mai…”

Akihisa scoffed, “You don’t know how to listen, do you?”

He dragged Yuuji to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Then, he smacked Yuuji hard across the face.

“I thought I told you not to talk to her.”

“I was just—”, he was interrupted by Akihisa’s hand covering his mouth, squeezing down on his face in the process.

“Did I tell you to talk? I don’t care why you called her. I told you not to talk to her without my permission. I’m not going to tell you this again. Do I make myself clear?”

Yuuji nodded. Akihisa let go of his face and pulled him in an embrace. Yuuji reluctantly held him in return.

“I’m sorry, Aki…”, he quietly said.

“It’s alright. Come on, lay down.”

They both get back into bed and go back to sleep. Akihisa holds Yuuji tightly, kissing him on the nape of his neck.

“Love you, Yu.”

“Love you too.”

Time flashes forward and it was the following year. It was Mai’s 18th birthday, and she was throwing a party. All of her friends from school as well as family members were in attendance. Mai was wearing a very beautiful pastel green dress and a crown on her head that said “birthday girl” on it. She was wandering around her house, asking people if they had seen Yuuji. After hearing the umpteenth person tell her that they haven’t seen him, she goes to the kitchen and calls him.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Where the hell are you? You should’ve been here by now.”

“ _Go up to your room._ ”

“Okay…”

She heads upstairs to her room. Once she gets there, she yells in excitement when she sees Yuuji outside her window on the limb of a tree. She lets him in, and the two give each other a hug.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you!”, she takes a moment to look at Yuuji. He was wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask, “What’s with the getup?”

“I wanted to look mysterious. I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t even have time to pick up a present for you.”

“You are my present, idiot!”, Mai gave him another hug. She held him tightly, but stopped when he started wincing in pain. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting so weird?”

“What are you talking about?”, Yuuji asked as if there was nothing strange about the situation. “Come on, let’s just go downstairs and have some fun. I can’t stay long, so I want to—”

“Wait, what do you mean you can’t stay long?”, Mai was started to get confused. “Yuuji, are you sure everything is okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Come on.”

He grabbed her hand and the two went downstairs together. Once they got downstairs, they went to the table with all the food an got some drinks. Before they went to go have a seat, Yuuji felt someone tap on his shoulder. Once he turned around, a fist had unexpectedly collided with his face, knocking him down. The room went from lively and jovial to dead silent within an instant.

“What the fuck?!”, Mai yelled at Akihisa, but he shoved her out of the way, not paying her any mind.

“Get the fuck up!”, he yelled at Yuuji. Yuuji just sat there, paralyzed by fear. Growing impatient, Akihisa yanks him up from the floor. “What do you think you’re doing here? Huh?!”

Yuuji just stood there not saying a thing. The sunglasses had flown off of his face and Akihisa took off the surgical mask. Yuuji looked at Mai with his now exposed, bruised face. He had a black eye on the right side of his face and now he had a bruised lip to go along with it.

“Hey! Leave him alone!”, Mai tried to go up to Akihisa.

“No, stay back!”, Yuuji yelled at her, pleading her not to move any closer. “Don’t get involved, Mai.”

“Hey, eyes over here, Yu.”, Akihisa turned his face so that their gazes met, “Answer me. Why are you here?”

“I’m sorry, okay? Just let me go.”

Akihisa punches him in the face again, “I thought I told you not to leave the house!”

Mai couldn’t just stand there idly as her best friend was being assaulted in front of her eyes. She walked up to Akihisa and shoved him away from Yuuji.

“You want someone to fight?! Fight me, motherfucker!”, Mai stood in front of Yuuji and was unwilling to relent. She took off her heels and threw them at Akihisa. “Come on! Get the fuck up!”

Akihisa immediately got up and shoved Mai onto the table behind her. He went in to punch her, but Yuuji stopped him just in time.

“Leave her alone!”

He turned to Yuuji and punched him instead, “Fuck that! You don’t know how to listen, so why should I?!”

Acting on rage, he started beating on Yuuji, being relentless with his blows. Finally, a couple of the guests that were there stepped in to get Akihisa off of him. Mai went up to Yuuji and checked to see if he was alright. He was covering his face, sobbing. Then there was banging on the door.

“Police! Open the door!”

One of the guests opens the door and two officers walk in.

“We’ve gotten some complaints about a disturbance here. What’s going on?”

“Get this bastard out of my house!”, Mai yelled with a teary voice.

They immediately looked at Akihisa, who was trying to get free from the people holding him back. He was out for blood and Yuuji was his target. The officers went up to Akihisa, placed him in handcuffs, and took him with them on their way out.

“You’re fucking dead! Do you hear me?!”

Yuuji sprang up and rushed after him, “Aki, I’m sorry! Please, let him go!”

He was trying to get the officer off of Akihisa, but the second officer held him back as the first one put him in the squad car. Once the car door was closed, Yuuji ran up to it, yelling through the window.

“Aki, please! I’m sorry!”, Akihisa just looked away, still seething with rage, “Aki, I love you! Please, don’t do this!”

Finally, the car started pulling off. Yuuji would’ve ran after it, but Mai came outside and held him back. Yuuji was crying out as loud as he could, repeating the words “I’m sorry” over and over again. Finally, he had woken up by Akihisa shaking him awake.

“Yu, are you okay?”

Yuuji just held him close and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Aki…”

Akihisa just held him in return, “It’s alright.”

It was morning, but the two just laid in bed for a bit longer in each other’s arms.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken comes over to Yuuji's apartment, but gets into a bit of a confrontation with Akihisa. Some time later, Mai comes over and confronts Yuuji.

Some time had pass and Yuuji and Akihisa were out of bed and on the couch. Yuuji was leaning on Akihisa as he held him, running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you have work today?”, Yuuji asked.

“No. Since I took over for my friend on Thursday, he’s over taking my shift tonight. Why?”

“I was just wondering.”, there was a brief pause before Yuuji suddenly asked, “Do you still hate me?”

“No.”, Akihisa’s quick and short answer came as a surprise to Yuuji.

“Even after what happened?”

“All I did was punch you. I could’ve done a lot worse.”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about.”, he sat up and turned Akihisa’s face towards him, making their eyes meet. “Do you still hate me after what happened a few years ago? At Mai’s birthday party?”

“No.”, he sounded sure about his answer, which still confused Yuuji.

“But, I don’t understand.”

“What’s there to not understand? You asked me a question, I answered it. What, do you want some sort of explanation or something? Because I don’t have one.”

“You have nothing?”

“What? Do you _want_ me to still be mad at you?”

“No, it’s just that…”

Akihisa held Yuuji’s chin and gave him a kiss on the lips. Yuuji gently held his face and the kiss became more intense. Then, Yuuji started to get on Akihisa’s lap. Akihisa put his arms around Yuuji’s waist and just held him.

“Did you miss me?”, Akihisa asked.

“I’ve always missed you.”, he continued to speak through kisses, “I’ve been…dreaming about you lately… I can’t get you out of…my head…”

“Me too…”, Akihisa held him tighter, “I fucking miss you like crazy, Yu…”

“Then show me how much you’ve missed me.”, Yuuji said, biting his lips.

Akihisa wasted no time laying Yuuji down and getting on top on him. They started passionately kissing and grinding their bodies on one another. Akihisa took off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Yuuji just laid there, marveling at the sight; Akihisa was always in shape, but it seemed as though he had gotten more muscular during their time apart. They started kissing again, this time with more feeling.

However, just as soon as the two were getting into it, there was a knock on the door. They ignored it for a few moments. But then, the person spoke up, and Yuuji couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Yuuji? Are you home? It’s me.”

“Shit! Get off of me.”, Akihisa got off of him and Yuuji rushed straight to the door. He gestured Akihisa to put his shirt back on before he opened the door. “Hey! Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

Ken walks in the apartment, “It’s alright. I thought you may have still been asleep or something.”, he walks to the living room and immediately notices Yuuji’s guest. He instantly recognizes him from Thursday night, “What is he doing here?”

“It’s nothing, babe. He just came to apologize about what happened the other night.”

“I thought you said that you didn’t know him.”, Ken said quietly.

“I never said that. Anyway, Ken, this is Aki. Aki, this is Ken.”

Akihisa gets up and holds out his hand for a handshake, “Nice to meet you.”

Ken was hesitant about shaking his hand, but he did so anyway, “Nice to meet you too, I guess.”

“Hey, I know I was a bit of an asshole before, but I just have a bit of a temper. Right, Yu?”, he put his arm around Yuuji’s waist.

“Yu? What is that, some kind of nickname?”

“Well, yeah. It’s alright, you can call me Yu too, if you want.”

“Uh, I don’t think so. Only _I_ get to call you that, got it?”, Akihisa turned Yuuji’s face towards him, gently holding his chin.

Just watching another man touch his boyfriend like this made Ken extremely uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and asked, “So, Yuuji, you still coming with me to my parent’s house, right?”

“Oh, shit! I forgot. Yeah, I still want to go. I want my kitten.”, Yuuji began to walk away, but Akihisa stopped him by grabbing his hand.

“But, I thought we were going to hang out today.”

“I never really said that we were.”

“Well, it was kind of implied, wasn’t it?”

“But, Yuuji, I already told my parents you’d be there.”

“Well, change of plans.”, Akihisa casually said. He pulled Yuuji closer to him and put his arm around his neck this time, “Maybe next time.”

“Okay, Yuuji, seriously? What the hell is with this guy?”, Ken was getting upset about the vibes Akihisa was giving off.

“Calm down, babe. He’s just joking around.”

“Maybe…”, Akihisa sarcastically said. But, just by looking at Ken’s face, he knew he was serious. He rolls his eyes and says, “Fine, fine. Go ahead and take him.”, he took his arm from around Yuuji’s neck and walked to the bedroom, “Just don’t hog him too much, okay?”

“Where are you going?”, Ken asked, noticing where he was heading.

“I’m going to get my phone and shoes. Would you like to know my favorite color since we’re playing 20 Questions now?”

“Hey, watch your tone, man!”, Ken was getting angrier by the minute.

“Ken, calm down. He always acts like this; it’s not that serious.”

“This guy is being a straight up asshole to me, and you’re just standing there letting him do it! What the fuck, Yuuji?!”

“Look, I said it wasn’t that serious.”, now Yuuji was getting frustrated. “You just need to lighten up a little, alright?”

“Lighten up?! What the hell do you mean?!”

“He means,”, Akihisa had returned from the bedroom and stood next to Yuuji, “you need to stop being a little bitch and calm the fuck down, okay, buddy?”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?”, Ken started walking towards him, but Yuuji got in the way.

“Look, if you’re going to start trouble, then you need to leave.”

“Why should _I_ leave?! He’s the one starting things around here!”

“Okay, both of you are being ridiculous. So, I’m asking both of you to cut it out.”

“Fine, fine.”, Akihisa raised his hands in a sarcastic defeat.

“Oh, fuck you!”, Ken had shoved Akihisa back a bit. Then, Yuuji shoved him back.

“You know what, Ken? You need to leave!”

“But, Yuuji—”

“Get the fuck out!”, Yuuji yelled.

Ken was standing there in complete shock that Yuuji had taken Akihisa’s side over his. Out of frustration, he turned towards the door and made his leave.

Then, Akihisa called out and said, “Don’t start shit if you can’t finish it, kid!”

Ken walks out the door and slams it behind him. Seeing Ken so upset caused Akihisa to laugh. Yuuji smacked him on the arm and walked back over to the couch.

“What was that for?”

“You’re such a jerk sometimes, you know that? You didn’t have to act like that.”

Akihisa sat next to him and pulled him in close to him, “You know how territorial I get, Yu. I’m just making sure he knows where I stand when it comes to you.”

“But, _he’s_ my boyfriend. Not you.”

“Not yet.”

“Don’t push it.”

Yuuji gives him a kiss on the cheek and they continued to cuddle more for some time.

 

A few hours had passed since Ken had left Yuuji’s apartment. Yuuji and Akihisa had fallen asleep on the couch during that time, but were immediately woken up by loud banging and yelling at the door.

“Yuuji Kimura, open the fucking door or I swear to God I’m kicking it in!”

Yuuji sprang up and rushed to the door. He knew better than anyone else how intense Mai’s anger could get. He opens the door and is greeted with a hard punch in the face. The impact was so strong that he actually fell on the floor. Akihisa got up to see what the commotion was but as soon as he got to the door, Mai immediately tackles him, causing them both to end up on the floor. She started punching and clawing at him with all of her strength. Yuuji eventually gets up and manages to get her off of him.

“Get the fuck off of me!”, she shoves Yuuji away and then smacks him in the face.

“Mai, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”, Yuuji couldn’t believe how Mai was behaving.

“Don’t you _dare_ ask me that!”, she yelled, her voice filled with rage, “You tell me why Ken called me to tell me that this fucking dickhead starts shit with him and you did _absolutely nothing_ to defend him!”

“Mai, I—”

“That man has done nothing but treat you with the utmost love and respect for the past _3 years_ , and this is how you repay him?! And for what?! To make this asshole happy?!”, she picked up a vase that was on the coffee table and threw it directly at Akihisa. She only missed by an inch.

“Mai, stop it!”, Yuuji tried to calm her down, but even getting anywhere closer to her only made her angrier.

“Don’t you tell me to fucking calm down! I thought you were better than this, Yuuji! I thought you moved on from him! But, I guess you’re just going to be his little bitch forever, aren’t you?!”

“What the fuck did you just say?!”, now Yuuji was angry. He stepped up to her and got in her face, “I’m nobody’s bitch, alright?!”

“You sure about that?! If you’re nobody’s bitch, then how come you let him stay here?! How come you haven’t given this guy the boot yet?! This man has beaten you, manipulated you, and abused you in every way possible, but you still decide to keep him around! You can’t stand there and tell me you’re not his bitch!”

Dead silence filled the room after that last statement. Yuuji and Mai just looked at each other; both filled with anger, resentment, and heartbreak. Both were shedding tears nonstop. All Akihisa could do was stand there, not saying a word.

Finally, Mai broke the silence, “You want to keep him around? That’s fine. You want to end things with Ken? Go right on ahead. You want to stay in this shithole you made for yourself? Be my fucking guest. Just leave me out of it.”

She slowly starts backing away and eventually, she starts walking towards the door. Instinctively, Yuuji went after her.

“Mai, wait… Mai, please, don’t go!”

“I’m done!”, she snapped at him, her heart breaking with each passing moment. Then, she quietly said, “I’m done…”

Without saying anything else, Mai walks out the door, not even thinking about looking back. Yuuji just slowly closed the door and sank onto the floor. He held himself as tightly as he could, crying his eyes out. Akihisa slowly went up to him and tried to help him up, only to have his hand be smacked away. There wasn’t anything he could say to try and make things even _remotely_ better. Akihisa knew he held some of the blame for what had just happened. He just looked at Yuuji, shedding some tears of his own. Then, unsure of what else to do, Akihisa walks out of the door and just leaves. Yuuji didn’t even try to stop him from leaving. He just sat there by the door, crying out as loud and as hard as he could, completely heartbroken and devastated.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji dreams about the moment he finally told Mai the truth about what happened back in high school.

Yuuji slowly opens his eyes and finds himself on a completely different floor. He sits up and notices that he’s next to a bed. He looks up and sees Mai sitting there in her pajamas. She had a pixie cut and her hair was light brown; the hairstyle she had in the year after graduating high school. They were in the apartment that Mai had just recently acquired; she had only been there for about 3 months.

She takes her attention off of her phone and looks at Yuuji, “Had a nice nap there, buddy?”

Yuuji gets up and sits next to her, “You’re such a bed hog, you know that?”

“Hey, you’re in _my_ apartment, in _my_ bedroom, on _my_ bed—”

“Yeah, yeah. Where’s my phone?”

“On the charger over there.”, she pointed to the nightstand to her right. “Ken texted you.”

“Did he?”, he immediately got his phone to check it. He opens the phone and reads the message:

_“Good morning! How’s my favorite person in the world? :)”_

Yuuji couldn’t help but to hide his blushing face, “He’s so sweet.”

“I know how to pick them, don’t I?”, Mai said, giving Yuuji a nudge on his arm.

“Yeah, I guess you do.”, he responded shyly.

“Isn’t he great?”, Mai was so happy for Yuuji’s new relationship. “The moment I saw him, I knew you two would make a good couple!”

“You really think so? It’s only been a month.”

“I can see it now… Both of you wearing pristine, white tuxedos at the altar, and then there’s me, your dazzling maid of honor!”, she struck a dramatic pose causing Yuuji to burst out laughing.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”, he sat quiet for a moment before finally saying, “Thank you, Mai.”

Mai gives Yuuji a big hug, shaking him around out of joy. “You deserve all the happiness in the world, and I will be there to provide that as much as I can.”, she sat there for a moment, giving shifty eyes. Finally, she whispers, “So…did you guys do it yet?”

“Are you kidding me?”, Yuuji became flustered, “It’s only been a month!”

“So what? Ken’s hot. Take advantage of that.”

“I’m not ready for that step yet, Mai.”

“Oh, okay. I get you, buddy.”, she nudges his arm again and gives him a wink. “I guess it does take some time before you just give away your V-card, huh?”

Yuuji just sat there quietly and kind of embarrassed. After sitting there in silence for a few moments, left in his own thoughts, he finally begins to cry a little bit.

“Yuuji, what’s wrong?”, Mai asked, confused in the complete change in Yuuji’s demeanor.

“It’s nothing. I’m sorry.”, Yuuji said, wiping his tears.

“It can’t be nothing if you just start crying out of nowhere. Come on, tell me.”

Yuuji sat there for a moment. After a moment of thinking about it, he finally came out and said, “The reason that we haven’t done anything like that yet is…because…I’m not sure…if he’ll…”, he got quiet again.

“If he’ll what? It’s okay, Yuuji, you can tell me.”

“I don’t know if he’ll…hurt me…”

Mai looked at him, confused, “What? Why would he hurt you?”

“Well, I know he wouldn’t do it just because. But…what if I make him upset or something?”

“I don’t think Ken’s like that, Yuuji. You have nothing to worry about. Where’s all this coming from?”

Yuuji positioned himself so that he was facing Mai completely and held her hands, trying to keep himself calm, “Do you remember, back in the 9th grade…when those guys came up to us at lunch? The ones who were with Aki?”

“Aki? Who’s Aki?”

“Akihisa…sorry.”, Yuuji called him that out of instinct, not realizing Mai wasn’t aware of the full situation.

“Yeah, I remember that. What are you getting at?”

“Well…do you remember when they chased us all the way to the lower floor of the school? Where the storage room was?”

“Yeah…”, Mai was getting more nervous by the minute.

“He took me in that room and started beating me up. There was a moment that I tried to fight back, but he was stronger than me. Then, when he was done, he started to leave. He was going to…”, he couldn’t look her in the eyes after knowing what he was about to tell her next.

“He was going to what?”

“He said he was going to use you…as ‘stress relief’… Mai, I knew what he meant by that, and I wasn’t going to let him hurt you!”, he looked up at her with tears coming down his face.

Mai started to shed some tears herself, “Yuuji…”

“He told me it was either you or me… I didn’t have a choice…”

“Yuuji…why didn’t you say anything?!”, Mai yelled, feeling angry at Akihisa, but guilty about what Yuuji had to go through for her sake.

“Well, after he was finished, I ran out of the room and into the bathroom. He followed me there, and made me promise not to tell anyone about what happened or he was still going to go after you. And…”

“And what? What happened?”

“He told me that…if I let him…do whatever he wanted with me…he’d stay away from you. So, I agreed to do it.”

“Why would you do that? You should’ve told someone as soon as he left!”

“I was scared! I didn’t want him to do anything to you! I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I had let anything happen to you.”

Mai sat quiet for a moment. Then, she asked, “How long was this happening?”

Yuuji was hesitant to tell her the truth, but he had already told her so much, he didn’t see a need to hide anything from her anymore, “All throughout high school. The last time I saw him was a couple of weeks after your 18th birthday.”

“Wait, is that why he came over that night? What the hell was that all about?”

“He told me I couldn’t come over your house. He didn’t want me talking to you at all.”

“Who the hell does he think he is?!”, Mai was becoming more upset the more Yuuji revealed.

“He didn’t like how close we were. Aki was a bit…”

“Controlling? Possessive? Fucking insane?! I could go on!”

“Mai, please…”

“And why the hell are you calling him that? Cut that out, it’s pissing me off.”

“I’m sorry, but please, calm down. And he wasn’t any of those things, alright?”

“How else could you describe that, Yuuji?!”

“He was insecure, okay?! He told me so!”

“Insecure, my ass!”

“Look, you don’t know Aki like I do, okay?”

“What did I just say about calling him that?! From here on out, he is to be referred to as Lucifer.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be like this.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. I can’t believe you went _4 years_ without saying anything to _anyone_!”

“I know…and I’m sorry… But, you have to understand where I was coming from! I thought he was really going to—”

She puts a finger on his lips to silence him, just looking at him with a teary smile, “Yuuji… I appreciate your way of thinking. I know you had good intentions…and I couldn’t be any more thankful… But, I just wished you would’ve told me sooner. I know you don’t think so, but you didn’t have to do that for me. And I am so sorry that you had to go through that just for my sake.”

Mai broke down crying in Yuuji’s arms. She felt completely at fault for being the reason that he best friend had to go through all of the pain that he did. Yuuji didn’t know how to react at first; it was unlike Mai to break down like this. Out of the two friends, Mai was always the tougher one. But, he held her as tightly as he could, rubbing her back trying to comfort her.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Mai.”, he sits her up so that he could wipe her tears, “And besides, it’s all over now, right? After last year, I ended things with him. He’s not an issue anymore, so there’s nothing to worry about anymore, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”, she hugs him one more time, “I love you, Yuuji.”

“I love you too.”, both let go of each other and wipe their tears away. “Hey, you want to head over to Choza’s? I could use a bite to eat.”

“Uh, if there’s food, no questions are required.”

They laugh it off, hugging one last time. Finally, Yuuji wakes up from his dream, still on the floor by his apartment door. He gets up and looks at the clock in his living room. It was a little after midnight by the time he woke up. Feeling completely exhausted, emotionally more than anything, he lays on the couch and tries his best to go back to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihisa goes over to Mai's apartment to try and talk things over. The next morning, Yuuji goes over to Mai's place after being invited over.

Mai was in her apartment, pacing around her living room and drinking a glass of wine. She was restless after her confrontation with Yuuji hours ago. As she’s pacing around, she constantly looks back at a photo of her and Yuuji at their high school graduation. Just seeing how happy the two of them were gave her an uneasy feeling, mainly because she was unsure if things between them could ever be the same. Then, out of nowhere, there was a knock on her door. She was hesitant to open it since it was so late. She goes to look through the peephole and immediately becomes enraged.

“You have 3 seconds to get the fuck away from my door before I call the police.”

“Come on, open the door. I just want to talk to you.”

“I have nothing to say to you, Lucifer.”

Akihisa gives a frustrated sigh, “Come on, Mai. Open the door.”

“I have nothing to say to you, you piece of shit!”, that was the last thing she said before she started walking away.

“Mai, I’m sorry.”

That made her stop in her tracks. Finally, she goes over and opens the door. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, you bastard.”

“Yes, you are. And don’t worry, I’ll get to Yuuji soon enough… Can I come in? We need to talk.”

Mai was hesitant to let him into her home, but she eventually moves to the side and lets him in. He walks into the living room and stands there. Mai follows him, keeping her distance from him.

“What do you want?”

“Look, firstly, I want you to listen to what I have to say without any interruption. Deal?"

“Bitch, you’re in _my_ apartment. I’ll listen to what you have to say, but don’t expect me to stay completely silent.”

“Alright, fine… Firstly, I think you and Yuuji should patch things up.”

“Why do you care? It’s _your_ fault that all of this is happening.”

“I know it is, which is why I want you two to make up. If you guys make up, I’ll leave you guys alone.”

Mai stood there confused, “Wait, what? Are you kidding me? Like I’m going to believe this bullshit.”

“I’m serious, Mai.”, his tone matched his statement, “You mean the world to Yu, and just watching him break down like that…knowing that I’m part of the blame…hell, I’ll take full responsibility if I have to. Look, if there’s anyone you have to hate, hate me, okay?”

“Too late, I already do.”

“Will you stop being so childish about this?!”, he was getting annoyed by Mai’s attitude. “You and Yuuji have been best friends forever; he told me so. He would do _anything_ to make sure you’re safe and well…”, he started to shed some tears, “Even after what I did to him…all he cared about was making sure I wouldn’t hurt you.”

Mai couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. Her tough girl attitude was fading away fast and she wasn’t going to let him see that.

“You know, I kind of envied how close you two were.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to go into my little sob story, but…just watching how close you guys were, watching him smile whenever you two were together… I wanted to see how that felt. I got greedy, and I ended up hurting him even more because of it. I bet if I didn’t let my jealousy get in the way of actually treating him with the proper care he deserved… But, I guess that’s what he has Ken for. And you too, right?”

Mai started wiping away her tears, but more just kept coming, “You…you did something unforgivable to him… No one does that to someone that they love.”

“I didn’t even have feelings for him until about a year after the fact. I didn’t mean for things to get serious between us, but it happened. Mai, I know you’ll hate me for the rest of your life for what I’ve done to Yuuji…but don’t shut him out. He needs you more than anything right now. And if that means that I have to go, then so be it.”

Mai just stands there in silence. She didn’t know how to react to this complete change of heart in Akihisa.

“Well, I guess that’s all I have to say. Unless you want to say something, I’ll be on my way. Will you at least think about what I said?”, she nodded. “Alright. Good night.”

Akihisa walks past her and goes to make his leave. But, before he left, Mai spoke up and said, “I accept your apology.”

He turns around to her, “Thank you.”

“Akihisa?”

“Yeah?”

“If Yuuji is willing to forgive you for what happened…then…I’ll try to as well.”

“Thanks.”

“And, also…”

“Yeah?”

She walks up to him and gives him a hug, “I would’ve been willing to share if you had just asked.”

Akihisa was a bit hesitant, but he hugged her back, “Glad to know. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, get out of my house, asshole.”, she let him go, wiping her tears.

“Yes, ma’am. Good night.”

“Good night.”, she closes the door behind him and walks back to put her glass in the sink. Suddenly, her house phone rings. It was Ryu. “Hello?”

“ _Okay, don’t be too mad at me, but I sent Akihisa your address. If you’re going to kill me, can you make it quick and painless? I’d like to go peacefully._ ”

“Shut up and go to bed, idiot.”

She hangs up the phone, washes out her glass and heads to her room. But before she does, she looks at the picture of her and Yuuji once more and smiles.

_“I could never stay mad at you anyway.”_

She turns off the lights and heads off to bed.

  

It was early the next morning and Mai had called Yuuji over to her apartment. Once he got there, he quietly knocked on the door, unsure of why he was even there. He was knocking for about 5 minutes before Mai had finally answered the door.

“What the fuck are you knocking so quietly for? I didn’t even hear you.”

“Oh, I…I wasn’t sure if I should use my key…and I wasn’t sure if I had to break out my 4th grade Karate moves so suddenly…”, he said in a timid voice.

“Get in here, you dummy.”, she pulled him into a loving embrace, which caught Yuuji off guard.

“You don’t have any weapons on you, right?”, he was still on the defense after last night.

“Oh, shut up and get in here.”, she pulls him inside and closes the door behind them. They walk over to the living room and sit on the couch.

“Why did you call me over here?”, Yuuji was still confused about that.

“Am I not allowed to want to hang out with my best friend?”

“But…”, Yuuji couldn’t be any more confused.

“Look, Yuuji, I called you over here because I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about last night.”

“You are?”

Mai just gave him an annoyed look, “I can take my sorry back if you’d like.”

“No, no! It’s just that…you sounded pretty serious last night.”

“I know I did. But, I’ve done some thinking…and drinking…”, she said with a bit of embarrassment.

“What else is new?”

“But, seriously Yuuji…”, there was a pause, “Akihisa came over last night.”

Yuuji nearly did a double take. It was the first time he had ever heard her call Akihisa by his actual name. “He did? Why?”

“He came over and told me that we should try and patch things up between us.”

“He did…?”

“Yeah… We had a nice little chat.”

“He’s not in the hospital, is he?”

“Will you shut up, Mr. Worst-Case-Scenario? He’s fine; he left without being harmed.”, there was another pause, “He also apologized about what happened…back in high school.”

Yuuji was shocked, “Really? Well, that’s good…”

“Yeah, it is. It was like I was talking to a completely different person last night.”

“I’m just glad that we can all start to move on from this.”, this time he was the one to give the sudden hug.

“Me too. But, what about Ken? Have you talked to him at all?”

Yuuji sits up, “No, I haven’t. I tried calling earlier when I woke up, but he didn’t answer.”

“Do you think you guys can work things out?”

“I want to. I’m not going to throw away 3 years because of my stupid decisions. I’ll go over to his house tomorrow and try to talk to him.”

“That’s good. Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I think I should go by myself. We need to have a serious talk about everything that’s been going on. And I mean _everything_.”

“Sounds like a plan, buddy. So, since you’re here, do you want to help me pick out a new dress to buy?”, she pulls up her laptop that had been on the whole time.

“If I must.”

They both laugh and spend the rest of the day together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji goes over to Ken's place the next day and tries to make amends.

It was Monday afternoon, and Yuuji had left work early to visit Ken at his apartment. He saw that his car was there, so he knew he was home. He gets to his door and knocks a few times. After about a minute or so, Ken opens the door.

“Hey.”, Yuuji said quietly.

“Hey.”

“May I come in?”

“Sure.”, Yuuji walks in and Ken closes the door behind him, following Yuuji to the couch.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Same.”, there was an obvious tension between the two and Yuuji wasn’t going to ignore it any longer, “Look, Ken, I’m so sorry about what happened the other day. You know I’m not usually like that.”

“Yeah, I know. Which is why it hurt even more when you yelled at me.”

“Ken, you have no idea how bad I feel about that.”, he walked up to Ken and held his hands. “You have every right to be mad at me. I deserve it after being such an asshole to you. I just hope you can forgive me.”

“I just don’t understand it, though…”, he led Yuuji to the couch and they both have a seat, “It was like you were completely okay with that guy talking to me like that; treating me as if I was a nobody.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry. What he did was completely fucked up, and I should’ve said something about it. He had no right to do that, and I apologize.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you. I just…it was just weird for me.”

“I can tell. You think after a few years, he’d change.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuuji had been preparing for this conversation and he wasn’t going to stall any longer, “I’m going to tell you some things, and I want you to hear me out, okay?”

“Alright. I’m listening.”

“Okay. So, Aki and I have known each other since high school. We weren’t particularly friends or anything; he was a senior and I was a freshman. One day, during lunch, he and a few of his friends came up to Mai and I…they wanted Mai more than anything. They weren’t necessarily the friendliest of people. Anyway, the grabbed Mai out of her seat and started touching her, groping her. I tried to get them to stop, but Aki kept pushing me around. Then, I kneed him in between the legs, and Mai and I got out of there.

But, they started to chase us, and eventually, they chased us in the bottom level of the school. Aki told his friends to take Mai away, and when they did, Aki made me go into the storage room that was down there. He started beating me up, and when he was done, he told me that he was going to go back to Mai and use her as…’stress relief’…”, he started to tear up a bit.

“Was she alright? He didn’t hurt her, did he?”

Yuuji shook his head, “No, he didn’t hurt her at all. I begged him not to. Then, he told me that if he couldn’t use her, then…”

Ken’s eyes widened in shock, “Yuuji…”

“I didn’t have much of a choice. I didn’t want him to hurt Mai. I did whatever I could to make sure she stayed safe. After everything was said and done, I got out of there as fast as I could. But, he followed me anyway. He made me promise that if I didn’t tell anyone what happened, then he would leave Mai alone. And…”

“And what?”

“He also said that…if I let him do whatever he wanted to do with me, then he would leave her alone… So, I agreed to it. For the rest of my days in high school, he and I would…you know… But, shortly after the beginning of sophomore year, he had asked me to go out with him. I didn’t really expect it, but it was like he was a bit of a different person. I mean, he was still a bit of a jerk; he would still hit me whenever I said no to him or did something he didn’t want me to do…but, I could see a little bit of a different side of him. He would take me out on dates sometimes, buy me flowers, things like that. It didn’t happen often, but it still happened.”

“I don’t get it…”, Ken was a bit overwhelmed by all of this information being relayed to him, “Why didn’t you say anything about what he did? Or about what happened afterwards?”

“I was scared. Protecting Mai became my priority at that time. But, it slowly became a bit of an obligation to stay with him. I didn’t know what he would’ve done if I had left him, so I stayed. I mean…I guess you could say that I started…having feelings for him. But, it all ended when he got arrested at Mai’s birthday party a few years ago.

He came over Mai’s house super angry that I had even went to the party. He didn’t really like how close Mai and I were. He had a bit of a temper back then, too. And he used that temper to take his anger out on me then. One of the guests had called the police and he ended up getting arrested. He didn’t go to jail or anything because I didn’t press charges. But, after that incident, things just kind of ended between us. A year later, I met you.”

Ken had to sit there and think for a moment. He wanted to take in everything that Yuuji was telling him.

“Look, I guess what I’m trying to make you understand is that letting Aki back into my life kind of fucked with me a little. I was never really emotionally stable after things ended between us, and I guess I was still pretty vulnerable. But, he doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’ve made up my mind about what I want. And what I want is you, Ken.”

Ken gives Yuuji a gentle smile and wipes the tears from his boyfriend’s face, “I’m glad that you found the courage to tell me this. And I appreciate it. You mean the world to me, Yuuji, and I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Ken.”, he pressed his forehead against Ken’s and held him.

After a moment, Ken asked, “Are you going to be busy right now?”

“Not really, no. Why?”

“I want to take you out to lunch.”

“I’d like that.”

After waiting for Ken to get himself ready, the two head out to spend the rest of the afternoon together.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuji comes home after spending time with Ken, and Akihisa comes over to check up on him.

Yuuji had returned home after spending the afternoon with Ken. He was in a much better mood than he was on Saturday. He gets into his apartment, kicks off his shoes, and lays down on the couch. He pulls out his phone and calls Mai.

“ _Hey._ ”

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“ _Nothing much; I just got home. How did it go with Ken?_ ”

“I think things are going to be okay between us.”

“ _Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!_ ”

“Thanks. I think it went well, actually. He didn’t freak out when I told him about what happened. In fact, he told me that he wanted to help me move past it.”

“ _Keep that man! I’m telling you, you’re never going to find anyone else like him!_ ”

“I know, I know.”

“ _So, since things are going well with you and Ken, you going to tell Akihisa to back off for good?_ ”

“I should, shouldn’t I?”

“ _It would be the smart thing to do. Just end things completely once and for all, and let’s just move on with our lives._ ”

“I totally agree… You know what? I think I’m going to call him now. I’ll talk to you later.”

“ _Alright, tell me how it goes._ ”

“I will. Goodbye.”

“ _Bye bye._ ”

They hang up the phone and Yuuji immediately calls Akihisa.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Hey. What are you up to?”

“ _I was actually about to call you. Mind if I drop by?_ ”

“Oh, sure. I’m home right now. Just let me know when you get here.”

“ _Alright. I’ll see you in a bit._ ”

“Alright. See you soon.”

After about 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door. Yuuji goes to answer it and Akihisa was on the other side. Yuuji lets him in and they go over to the living room and sit on the couch.

“How are you feeling?”, Akihisa asked.

“I feel a lot better. Thank you.”

“I’m glad.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence. Finally, Yuuji said, “I made up with Mai yesterday.”

“That’s good. I’m happy to hear.”

“And Ken…”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“I told him…about you. Well, more about you than what he knew.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him how we met…and what happened when we did…”

“Really? What did he say?”

“Well, he didn’t really say much of anything about _that_. I told him about our past relationship and how that ended. I basically told him about everything regarding you and I.”

“And I assume it went well?”

“Yeah…it did. You’re not mad, are you?”

“Why would I be mad? I’m just glad that you finally had the courage to tell him about all of that. I know it’s not easy to talk about what happened, so I’m proud of you for opening up to him.”

“Thank you.”, Yuuji kind of blushed.

“You’re welcome. Hey, I just wanted to come over here and check up on you, so…”

“Oh, okay. Well, thank you for your concern.”

“It’s no problem. Well, I guess I should go. Don’t really see a reason for me to stay.”, he gets up and heads for the door.

Yuuji gets up and walks him to the door. “Well, thank you for coming.”

“No problem. I guess I’ll see you around.”, he opens the door and starts to leave.

“Wait…”, Yuuji stopped him, pulled him back in, and closed the door. “I just want to say one thing: I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay out of my life for me to move on.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is…I still want you in my life. Even if that means we’re just friends.”

“Yu…”

“I mean it, Aki.”, he pulled him in close, “I still care about you, and I know you still care about me. I want us to move on from this together.”

Aki held him in return, “Yu… if me being in your life is going to cause problems with you and Ken—”

“It doesn’t matter, he’ll get over it. Just please stay…”

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright then. I’ll stay.”, Aki held onto him a bit tighter. “I’ll always love you, Yuuji. You know that, right?”

“Yeah… I love you too, Aki.”

The two had finally looked at each other in the eyes, and they stared at each other for a few moments. Finally, giving into the passion of the moment, the began to kiss. It started out as little pecks on the lips at first, but then Akihisa started kissing more deeply and more passionately. Yuuji started kissing in the same manner as Akihisa, completely throwing away all common sense. But then, Akihisa abruptly stops the kiss.

“Yu…we can’t do this…”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you just made up with Ken and—”

“I don’t care about that. Right now, all I want is you.”, Yuuji started kissing him again, but Akihisa tried to push him away.

“Yuuji, this isn’t right…”

“Please…I don’t want to think about that right now…”

His kisses continued once again. Feeling the uselessness of trying to dissuade him, Akihisa finally gave in. Yuuji started walking towards his bedroom, and Akihisa was right behind him. He laid on the bed and Akihisa got on top of him without hesitation and began kissing him again. Their kisses grew more and more passionate by the second. Eventually, they both had taken off their shirts and continued kissing. Then, Yuuji pulled Akihisa in close, tenderly holding him. Akihisa went from kissing his lips to kissing his neck, all while grinding his hips against Yuuji’s lower half of his body. Then, his hand started moving its way down to Yuuji’s pants and unbuttoned it. He stuck his hand down his pants and started rubbing in between Yuuji’s legs.

“Aki…”, Yuuji whispered.

“Do you like that?”

Akihisa started rubbing it more, and eventually started stroking his dick, which was getting harder the more he kept going. Yuuji’s breathing started becoming lighter as he started moaning. Then, Yuuji took Akihisa’s hand away.

“I’m going to cum if you keep doing that…”

“Alright, alright. Sit up for me.”

Both men sat up on the bed. Then, Akihisa unfastened his pants and pulled out his dick.

“You’re hard already?”

“Seeing you like this turns me on, Yu…”, he said, biting his lips.

Yuuji didn’t have to be told to know what to do. He licked the tip a bit before sliding the whole thing into his mouth. He didn’t stop until he had gotten to the base. Akihisa just kept letting out aroused moans from having his dick all the way down Yuuji’s throat. Finally, Yuuji started moving his head back and forth, sucking him off. Akihisa lowered his pants a bit more, moving his hips to the same rhythm as Yuuji’s head.

“Oh my God, you’re so good…”

Yuuji just kept sucking, using his tongue to lick every inch of him as he could. Akihisa looks down and sees that he had pulled out his dick and was jerking himself off as he was working Akihisa’s dick. Akihisa licked one of his hands, grabbed Yuuji’s dick, and started moving his hand up and down. Both men were letting out moans as they were pleasuring the other. Finally, Yuuji took Akihisa out of his mouth and took his pants off completely. He laid down on his back and spread his legs apart a bit. Akihisa takes off his pants and starts rubbing his dick against Yuuji’s hole.

“Is this what you want?”, he asked in a low, sensual voice.

“Yeah…”

“Tell me how much you want it.”

“Please, Aki…I need it…please give it to me already…”

“Alright…”

He slowly started putting it inside of him. But, he only put it in a bit past the tip before pulling himself out. He did this a few more times, just teasing Yuuji. Yuuji would make little whines from being teased so much. Finally, giving into his nonverbal pleas, Akihisa puts the whole thing inside of Yuuji and started moving in and out of him. Yuuji wrapped his legs around Akihisa’s waist, and the two started holding hands as Akihisa was fucking him. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. Their gazes were filled with nothing but desire and genuine love for the other person.

“I love you, Aki…”, Yuuji sweetly whispered as he pulled him into an embrace.

“I love you too.”

“Aki, go faster.”

Without hesitation, Akihisa’s hips started moving faster. As Akihisa kept moving, Yuuji started moaning louder and louder. Akihisa tried to quiet him down with a kiss, but even then, Yuuji’s stifled moans were still audible. After a few more minutes, Akihisa gave one strong thrust and became still for a moment. Both men were panting, trying to catch their breath.

“Get on your back.”, Yuuji requested.

Akihisa did just that. Then, Yuuji quickly got on top of him. He started gently stroking Akihisa’s dick and then he slowly put it back inside of him. He started grinding his hips slowly, caressing Akihisa’s body as he did so. Akihisa held onto Yuuji’s hips and started moving them the way he wanted them to. Then, one of his hands started caressing his thigh and worked its way to his ass. He gave it a hard smack, causing Yuuji to give a little yelp of excitement.

“You like it when I do that?”

“Yeah…do it harder…”

So, he started smacking his ass even harder. Eventually, he started using both hands. Yuuji’s skin was becoming red, but he liked the feeling. Then, Yuuji started moving his hips faster. Akihisa took one of his hands and started stroking Yuuji’s dick once again. Once he did that, adrenaline started flowing through Yuuji’s veins and he began to move even faster. His moans became lighter, louder, and he started calling out Akihisa’s name in an erotic voice.

“Damn, Yu…you’re so tight. Are you about to cum?”

“Yeah…I’m going to cum… Aki…”

“It’s okay. Cum for me, Yu…”

“Aki…I’m cumming…!”

Shortly after declaring it, Yuuji started to cum. He was cumming all over Akihisa’s stomach, and some of it got onto his chest. After reaching his limit, Akihisa sat up and held Yuuji by the waist.

“Keep going, I’m going to cum soon.”

Yuuji began moving his hips a bit more. He held onto Akihisa as he moved, kissing him as he did so.

“I’m going to cum…”

“Cum for me… Cum deep inside of me, Aki…”

Finally, Akihisa came as deep as he could inside Yuuji. Both let out loud moans as they both had reached ecstasy. Once Akihisa was done, the two just sat in each other’s embrace, staring into each other’s eyes. Yuuji gave Akihisa a gentle kiss on the lips.

“I love you, Aki.”

“I love you too, Yu.”

The spend some time sitting there, but eventually got themselves cleaned up. Afterwards, they sat in the living room, turned on the television, and spend the rest of the night together.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, Ken comes over to Yuuji's apartment and makes a heartbreaking discovery.

It was the next morning, and Ken was on his way over to Yuuji’s apartment. On his way over there, he tried to call him, but Yuuji wasn’t answering his phone. He called a few times before actually leaving a message.

“Hey, Yuuji. It’s me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m stopping by. I figured we could go out for breakfast before you have to go work. Call me when you get a chance. Bye.”

After a few minutes, Ken reaches Yuuji’s apartment building. He sees that his car is still there, so he knew he had to be home. He parks his car and heads into the building. He goes up to the door and knocks a few times.

“Yuuji, it’s me. You home?”

He tries to see if the door was open, and to his surprise, it was. He walks into the apartment, wondering where Yuuji could be. Then, he heard giggles coming from the bedroom. The door was closed, so Ken slowly walked up and pressed his ear on the door, listening in closely.

“You really need to get going. You’re going to make me late for work.”

“Oh, come on. I can’t stay a bit longer?”, Ken recognized the first voice to be Yuuji’s, but the second one sounded vaguely familiar.

“I wish you could, but I really need to get going. Ken called me like 5 times. He’s on his way over here.”

“Is he really? Damn. Alright, I’ll leave then. But, I’m coming back over after work.”

Then there was a little thud against the door. Ken was confused as to what was going on until he heard Yuuji start quietly moaning. He quickly opens the door and Yuuji and Akihisa fall onto the floor.

“What the fuck is going on?!”, Ken yelled in anger.

“Ken! When did you get here? How did you get in?”, Yuuji frantically got up. Akihisa got up too.

“Your door was unlocked. What the hell is going on here?!”

“Look, I can explain!”

“Like hell you can! What the fuck is he doing here?!”

“Ken, it’s not what you think!”

“Are you kidding me?! Do you think I didn’t hear you two in there?!”

“Look, Ken, we were just talking!”

“Sounded like a lot more than talking!”, Ken pauses for a moment and takes a look at Yuuji’s neck, “What the hell is that on your neck?”

“What…?”

He rushes over to a mirror and sees a dark spot on his neck. It was most likely a hickey left by Akihisa last night. Yuuji starts to panic a bit.

“Listen, Ken, just let me explain!”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?!”, Ken turns his attention to Akihisa and gives him a shove.

“Hey, watch it!”, Akihisa shoves him back, but a lot harder than Ken pushed him.

“Guys, stop it!”, Yuuji got in between the two of them before anything got too serious.

“Yuuji, why the hell is he here?! I thought you said you two were through!”

“Ken, please! Let me—”

“What is there to explain?! You lied to me!”

“Ken, I’m sorry!”, Yuuji started to cry.

“Sorry, my ass! How could you do this to me?!”

“Look, just calm down, alright?”, Akihisa interjected.

“You shut the fuck up!”, Ken tried lunging at him, but Yuuji got in the way again.

“Stop it! Ken, just listen to me!”

“No, why should I?!”, Ken was getting more upset by the second. “You told me that you were done with him; that he didn’t matter to you anymore!”

“Wait, what?”, now Akihisa started get a bit frustrated, “That’s not what you were saying last night.”

“Aki, please, just…”, Yuuji became flustered and a bit frantic, “I didn’t mean it, I swear!”

“Then why the fuck did you say it?!”

“I don’t know! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

“Yuuji, this is getting ridiculous!”, Ken finally said, “You told me you were done with him!”

“I know I did, quit bringing it up!”, Yuuji snapped at him. “In that moment, all I cared about what making things right between us! I didn’t want you to be mad at me anymore.”

“So what? You just said what I wanted to hear?! Did you think that was going to make anything better?!”

“Look, I’m sorry!”

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it anymore! I can’t believe you did this to me!”

“Oh my God, will you shut up?!”, Akihisa was getting annoyed at Ken’s constant complaining.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?! You should’ve just stayed out of things a long time ago!”

“Oh, really?”, he stepped a bit closer to Ken, “We all know that all you are is a stand-in waiting for me to take back what’s mine.”

“Are you serious?!”, Ken just looked at Yuuji, who just stood there in silence, “Yuuji, why aren’t you saying anything?!”

Yuuji just stood there, folding his arms and looking down at his feet. Akihisa pulled him close by his waist and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Yuuji…”, Ken quietly said, tears coming from his eyes. Yuuji couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry…but I…I can’t just…cut him out of my life…”

That’s when Ken got extremely upset, “After all he’s done to you, after everything you told me that had happened between you two… I’ve done nothing but treat you with the love and respect you deserve and you still choose this asshole over me?”

“Ken…please…”

He held up his hand, signifying he was done talking. He turns his attention to Akihisa, “You know what? You can have him. After seeing his true colors, you both deserve each other.”

He looks at Yuuji one last time and turns to walk away. Yuuji thought about stopping him, but ultimately decided against it.

Finally, Yuuji said for the last time, “Ken, I’m sorry.”

Without saying another word, Ken leaves, never looking back. On his way out, Mai was walking in. She looked back at Ken and then turned her attention to Yuuji and Akihisa.

“What the hell happened?”

Yuuji just walked over to the couch and sat down, hiding his face in his hands. Mai goes over and sits next to him.

She asks Akihisa, “What’s going on?”

“I think things between he and Ken are—”

Yuuji held up his hand, signaling him to stop. “Come here.” Akihisa sat on the other side of him and Yuuji immediately held him. “I love you…”

Akihisa held him in return and says, “I love you too.”

He looks at Mai who, at that point, figured out what may have happened. She just looked at the two of them, unsure of how to feel about the situation. Without saying a word, she gets up and leaves the two of them alone. Yuuji and Akihisa just sat there and held each other for a while, finally taking in and accepting what had just happened.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of weeks go by, and these are the events that occur.

A couple of weeks pass by since Yuuji and Ken had broken up. Yuuji had packed up the belongings that Ken had left there throughout the 3 years they were dating. He finally got the last of Ken’s stuff and placed it near the door. As he puts the last box down, there was a knock on the door. He opens the door and Mai was on the other side.

“Hey there.”

“Hey.”, he moves aside and lets her in.

“Is that all of his stuff?”, she looks down at the two boxes near the door.

“Yeah. Are you going to take it to him?”

“Yes, I am.”, she stood there for a moment. “Is _he_ here?”

“Yeah…he’s still asleep.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Mai, look—”

“Yuuji, I was fine with you and Akihisa getting along, okay? But, you didn’t have to do that to Ken.”

“Mai, I don’t know what else to say about all of this. I’ve tried apologizing, I’ve tried talking to him. I wish things didn’t end the way that it did, but there’s nothing else left to do about it. I’m moving on, and so should you.”

Mai just stood there, feeling nothing but disappointment in Yuuji’s attitude about this whole situation.

“Look, if that’s how you want to go about things, then that’s fine with me.”, she picks up the boxes and looks at Yuuji for one last time.

“Hey, do you want to hang out later?”

She just looked at him with a solemn face, “With all due respect, Yuuji…I think I’d prefer _not_ to see you anymore this week.”

“What? Why?”

“Yuuji, with all of this shit that’s happened lately…I just need some time to try and accept this. I think you need some time to yourself, too.”

“Mai…”, Yuuji said quietly.

“I’ll see you around, Yuuji.”

She sets down the boxes and gives Yuuji one last hug, picked up the boxes, and leaves. Yuuji closes and locks the door behind him, goes back to his bedroom, and joins Akihisa in the bed. As soon as he laid down, Akihisa pulls him in and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

“You going to be okay?”, he asked, rubbing his back and running his fingers through his hair.

“Probably. I don’t want to think about that right now.”, he said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Alright… I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They spend some time holding each other, giving each other kisses, and coming to terms of their bittersweet reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoyed this story. Feel free to tell me your thoughts about it. (^-^)


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